


Amethyst Unleashed

by ProfessorJupiter, Sir Spuddrington Tatortot (The_Pomftato_932), UsernamesAreForWeaklings



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amethyst IS pink diamond, Betrayal, Corrupted Gems, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Family, Forgiveness, Holly blue redemption, Jasper Redemption (Steven Universe), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, diamond redemption technically
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-22
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-01-04 02:36:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 53,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12159819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProfessorJupiter/pseuds/ProfessorJupiter, https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Pomftato_932/pseuds/Sir%20Spuddrington%20Tatortot, https://archiveofourown.org/users/UsernamesAreForWeaklings/pseuds/UsernamesAreForWeaklings
Summary: This takes place after the Wanted arc.Steven and Amethyst run into each other in a strange dream. When Steven wakes up he and Amethyst begin to experience strange occurrences and find out some hidden secrets. But, when they decide to investigate will they be ready for what they're about to find out.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry, guys, had to repost this. There was a technical difficulty with text that caused it to repeat itself.

Deep in the center of the Prime Kindergarten, inside a building meant to be kept hidden, a small pink shard floated in a batch of purple chemicals inside a chamber filled with teal liquid. Pink Diamond, one of the four matriarchs of the Diamond Authority; the youngest out of the four, and ruler of the future Earth Colony; gazed directly at the chamber with a hopeful expression.

"My Diamond," said an unknown voice

Pink turned to find an Era 1 peridot in a lab coat with a gem on her chest, long blonde hair that reached her hips, no limb enhancers, and she was about as tall as a pearl.

"After running a few scans results, show that with that shard you took from your gem acting as a catalyst, once the gem emerges she'll be able to use your powers without burning out her physical form," said the peridot

Pink Diamond gave a warm, friendly smile and stars appeared in her eyes.

"Splendid," she said with childlike excitement.

"But, since your shard is synchronizing both her diamond DNA and her quartz DNA she won't be able to tap into her diamond genes unless you unlock them for her using your telepathic powers," she added.

"Understandable, but when I unlock her diamond powers will I be able to turn them off?" asked Pink Diamond

No

"Good, because I want her to enjoy her powers without fear of having them taken away from her, I don't want her to feel like I'm using her as a weapon" she replied

"Oh, and um, my Diamond, permission to speak freely?" the peridot asked

Pink smiled at that.

Granted.

The peridot gave her an excited smile

"My Diamond, I just want to say that I'm happy to be apart this project and what we're doing here is gonna go down in Gem history," she said as stars appear in her eyes.

"I mean this is just truly exciting, we are creating a quartz soldier that has your DNA and your powers. "Oh, I can only imagine her potential," she said tingling with excitement.

Pink reaches down and pats the peridot on the head.

I couldn't imagine doing this without my first peridot, Ivy.

The peridots face turned a darker shade of green at the mention of her nickname. Pink Diamond had given it to her on the day she emerged. Pink thought it was necessary to honor her first peridot to have ever emerged.

At that moment, the purple chemicals surrounding the pink shard began to shrink around it until a purple gemstone formed around the shard, sealing it inside.

The process is complete, my Diamond! exclaimed Ivy excitedly

The gem was an amethyst with a hexagonal facet.

"Excellent, prepare the Injector, I'll be with you in a minute," said Pink

As Ivy headed out to the Kindergarten, Pink opened the chamber and picked up the amethyst gem and looked at it.

She then smiled and placed a kiss on it

"I believe you will be something amazing . . . 8XM," said Pink


	2. Ivy's Log

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little history on Amethyst's creation and it's relationship to Project Paragon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys, I'm back. Sorry for the long wait. It's just that school has been hell. I had to take four tests this week. I'll try to update quicker next time. Anyway, the logs are from Ivy's POV not mine. She basically explains how Amethyst's diamond DNA works and how her creation started. So that's it for now, don't worry like I said before I'll try to update quicker and the real adventure will start in the next chapter. If you have any thoughts please leave them in the comment section.

"Greetings, viewers, I am Ivy, AKA Peridot Facet 4 Cut 6G1M, the creator of this story has given me permission to disclose this information to you."  
  
"Please take note that this is classified information and what I'm about to show you does not leave this room."  
  
"Now then, let's begin shall we."  
  
(Opening a holopad)  
  
**Log-01**  
  
"Project Paragon, my Diamonds latest project."  
  
"My Diamond realized that even as powerful as she is, she won't necessarily live forever. So she decided to pass her legacy on to a prodigy"  
  
"Believe it or not, my Diamond was not like the other members of the Authority. She was affectionate to all the gems that served her and she believes all life is valuable."  
  
"When she came to me with this assignment I was expecting a simple gem replication, but no, she wanted me to inject her DNA into a quartz soldier.  
  
"I mean this is unheard of. This has never been done before, a quartz with the power of a diamond."  
  
"Of course I happily accepted this assignment and I was going to assemble the rest of team for this experiment, but my Diamond told me that this project was to remain top secret and no other gems or diamonds should know about this."  
  
"So I gave her my word that this project will stay under the radar and then I began the experiment."  
  
**Log-02**  
  
"It's been three Earth rotations since this project started and progress seems to be moving along nicely. Unfortunately, I somehow stumbled upon an error during the gemetic transfer. The DNA that Pink Diamond extracted from her gem was compatible with the amethyst gemstone but there was nothing to stabilize it. After days of constant examination and research, I figured out that in order for the DNA to be stabilized it will need a remnant from the original gem to act as a catalyst. My diamond was generous enough to chip off a piece of her gem in hopes of completing this project. OK, I'm placing in the shard right now, I'm fingers crossed, I hope this works."  
  
**Log-03**  
  
"OH, MY STARS!!! THE PROJECT IS A SUCCESS!!!"  
  
"I never thought something like this could ever be achieved, but now after running a few scans and getting the results, I can easily say I was proven wrong."  
  
"Scans show that when she emerges she'll look like the average quartz soldier, so keeping her diamond powers a secret from the other members of the Authority won't be an issue. However, due to the fact that she has DNA from two different gems her gemstone incubate much longer than the actual quartz, so there is a 50/50 chance of her coming out smaller than the average quartz but those are just numbers and considering what we just succeeded anything is possible.

"My diamond realized that even with the hybrids quartz-like appearance it will only be a matter of time before the other diamonds will find out what she is and have her harvested, shattered or worst. Even though she hasn't emerged yet, my diamond already formed a connection towards this hybrid and has grown to care for her. It would be dishonest to say that I have not shared in this attachment towards the quartz. In fact, one time I heard Pink Diamond refer to the gem as her "daughter", whatever that may be. But I digress, we are both worried about the gem. According to my diamond, she "has a plan." Let's hope she does.

 

** Log-04 **

I Have discovered two things here:

  1. My diamond has been secretly meeting with Rose
  2. They had been discussing a peace treaty.



I am terrified for her safety, as well as the ramifications of the other diamonds finding out about this, but I trust my diamond and her sense of secrecy and self-preservation. According to what my diamond tells me, she has entrusted that the rebel leader, Rose Quartz, would gain custody of the hybrid once she emerged.  But anyways, my diamond asked me if I could go with Rose so that when the hybrid emerged I could show how to use her powers and teach her about her heritage. I agreed to go and I promised her I'd do my best.  
  
(holopad switched off)  
  
Anyways, viewers, that's the end of log presentation. Down below is a list of powers the amethyst hybrid shall possess. Her diamond gemetic code gives the Powers of Pink Diamond, But, it also unlocks her gems full capacity and enhances the powers she already has and gives her powers that remain hidden inside her gem:  
  
**Diamond Enhanced Strength:**  Her regular quartz strength combined with her diamond strength makes her strong enough to rival Yellow Diamond in strength.  
  
**Diamond Enhanced Speed:** Her maximum speed has been increased to mach 1.  
  
**Gem Senses:** she will be able to sense a threat before it happens and her gem sends a signal to the rest of her body allowing her to react appropriately. This is a very rare ability and the only gems who are born with this ability are the Rose Quartzes.  
  
**Diamond Enhanced Durability:** With the combined strength of a quartz soldier and a diamond she'll be able to withstand a high-powered blast from a gem warship.  
  
**Flashbacks:** This is a side-effect of the diamond shard inside her gem. Due to the fact that the shard is now synced to her gem, she may experience flashbacks from Pink Diamonds memories.  
  
**Gemetic Telepathy:** The amethyst and Pink Diamond are telepathically linked to one another. They'll be able to know each other's emotions or if the other has been hurt. This link was formed due to their shared genes.  
**  
** **Electrokinesis:** She'll be able to shoot beams of electricity and power inactive technology.  
  
**Pyrokinesis:** She'll be able to shoot fire and manipulate it.  
  
**Geokinesis:** The power to manipulate land.  
  
**Telekinesis:** The power to move things with her mind.  
  
**Shockwave Absorption:** She'll be able to absorb the shockwave of any hits her body takes.  
  
**Shockwave Punch:** She'll be able to gather up all her strength and any shockwave she absorbed to throw a powerful concussive punch that's strong enough to knock her opponent back long distances. The stronger the shockwave the stronger the punch.  
  
**Shockwave Blast:** She'll be able to gather up all her strength and any shockwave she absorbed to hit her opponents with a seismic pulse. The pulse is very powerful and strong enough to take out a fully armed warship.  
  
**Thunderclap:** By gathering up her gem energy, she'll be able to produce a powerful shockwave by clapping her hands. My estimates show that the shockwave is powerful enough to poof 64 unarmored quartz soldiers. However, if she uses too much of her gem energy, she will be forced to release her physical form after use.  
  
**EMP:** By combining her electrokinesis with one of her shockwave powers, she'll be able to emit a powerful electromagnetic pulse which can electrocute anyone or anything that gets caught in its path and cause any form of technology to be deactivated or disassembled.  
  
**Enhanced shapeshifting:** Her shapeshifting abilities take up much less energy, which allows her to take on much more taxing forms for longer periods of time.  
  
**Hardening of extremities:** She is capable of hardening her hair into a virtually impregnable shell.  
  
**Enhanced Agility:** Working directly under Pink Diamond has allowed me to observe the life on her planet. I have observed it's inhabitants, managed to mimic their instincts and integrated those instincts into the amethyst.  
  
**Gem Detection:** She'll be able to sense when a gem is nearby and be able to identify it on instinct.  
  
**Seismic Stomp:** She's able to create an earthquake with a single footstep.  
  
**Thermal Detection:** She'll be able to sense the heat signature of any organic beings.  
  
**Advanced Combat:** This part was my doing. I wanted her to be able to defend herself in case no one was around to protect her. I programmed her gem with every known form of combat.  
  
**Telepathy:** Allows her to link herself to the minds of others and see the world through their eyes and have access to their memories and emotions.  
  
**Corruption Immunity:** She's immune to the effects of corruption.  
  
**Diamond Transformation:** She's has the option of transforming into the form of a diamond for a limited time.  
  
**Weapon:** The shard in her gem gives her access to a second weapon:

  * A Whip



 

 

 

  * Pink Diamonds Sword



 

 

 

This is the full list of her weapons and powers. Now then, the author of this story promises that the real action will begin in the next story this. Now then, this is Ivy, Peridot Facet 4 Cut 6G1M, signing off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: certain abilities have been removed or nerfed, a new log has been added, and one paragraph that was in desperate need of reworking has been reworked.


	3. 8XM Activated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something that was hidden, shall rise.

Steven opens his eyes to find himself in the Prime Kindergarten.

 

"The Kindergarten? How'd I get here?" he said, picking himself up.

 

Looking around, the area hasn't changed since the last few times he came there. The area was still barren and lifeless. The holes that countless gems have emerged from still remain completely isolated. The Injectors still remain inactive and the fog still hasn't subsided. But, Steven can't help but think that something is different about the area.

 

"How did I get here?" Steven asked.

 

"Yo, Steven?" called a familiar voice.

 

The young hybrid turned around to see Amethyst standing behind him.

 

"Amethyst!"

 

"Heh, Hey, dude, what's up?" said the small quartz.

 

"Not much aside from having woken up here. Do you have any idea how we got here?" he asked.

 

"No clue; but I say we should leave, before...WOAH!!! What is that?!!" Amethyst exclaimed pointing at something in front of Steven.

 

Following her finger, Steven saw an oddly-shaped building. It was dome-shaped and, above the entrance, it had the original four-diamond insignia.

 

"That building almost looks like that weird Geode that Greg taped up," he thought.

 

"I was in the Kindergarten for the first few years of my life and I haven't seen this place once. Got any ideas on what it is?" She asked.

 

"It's your beginning," called a third voice.

 

They both turned around to see a towering pink woman standing behind them. The figure had wild fuschia hair that reached her shoulders, pink sparkling eyes, wore a large flowing pink dress and a large, diamond-shaped pink gem resting on her navel.

 

"Greetings. You may know me as the fallen Pink Diamond," she said.

 

The two small quartzes stepped back cautiously, eyes wide as dinner plates.

 

"Don't worry; you have nothing to fear from me, I mean you no harm," assured Pink Diamond.

 

Steven and Amethyst both released a sigh of relief.

 

"Wait, the diamonds said you were shattered. How are you here?" Steven asked.

 

Pink Diamond smiled.

 

"Well, small one, when a gem is shattered, their body is destroyed. But their mind remains alive, in pieces," she explained. "Most minds would be split into pieces that wouldn't be able to do anything, but with my telepathy, I am able to hold my mind together, as well as  communicate with others like you through the mindscape."

 

"Wait, so you're communicating with me through my dreams?" Steven asked. "I can do that too!"

 

"Well, yes, but what matters now is that the two of you know this," she said.

 

"What is it?" they asked.

 

"Steven, what was the blue zircon's claim about my shattering?" Pink asked.

 

"Oh, she said that the culprit wasn't my mom, and went so far as to accuse one of the other diamonds," he said. "Why?"

 

"Well, let us just say she's not wrong," Pink stated.

 

Both Steven and Amethyst stared at each other with surprised looks. Neither of them knew what the other was thinking, but they could tell they were both having the same thoughts.

 

"What do you mean?" Steven asked.

 

"You will find out soon, but for now I must ask a favor of you," she said. "Would you so kind as to show me your gem?"

 

"Um, OK," Steven replied lifting his shirt.

 

Pink Diamond extended her index finger towards Steven and lightly tapped his gem. After a moment's pause, the gem to emanate a bright pink glow for a moment before it faded out.

 

"Woah, what was that?" Steven asked pulling his shirt back down.

 

"Consider it a gift to your mother," Pink Diamond replied, smiling coyly. "Oh, and Amethyst before I forget."

 

Pink lifted Amethyst up gently and planted a kiss on her forehead, causing her eyes to widen even more than they had. Almost immediately, Amethyst's gem began glowing a bright pink. The glow spread across her chest, to her torso, before enveloping the rest of her body. After a long wait, the aura faded out and her gem went dark.

 

Pink Diamond stared at Amethyst with a soft gaze.

 

"Your potential has been unlocked, my child," she said.

 

"My potential?" Amethyst thought.

 

Suddenly, the whole Kindergarten began to shake and crumble.

 

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?!?!" Amethyst exclaimed, panicking.

 

"It appears that Steven is about to wake up. Before you go there is something you must know," Pink said.

 

She leaned into Amethyst's ear and, with a warm smile, she whispered,"I love you."

 

Then everything went white.

 

. . .

 

"Steven."

 

"Steven!"

 

"STEVEN!"

 

Steven was awoken by the sound of Pearl's voice. He looked around and let out a sigh of relief knowing he was back in his room. Turning to his right, he saw Pearl standing next to his bed.

 

"Oh, hey, Pearl is something wrong?" he asked.

 

"Well, a gem came out of Lion's mane and said she had come to see you," Pearl said. "I guess you know her?"

 

"What does she look like?" Steven asked warily.

 

Before Pearl could answer, she was interrupted by a voice downstairs.

 

"I predict the pearl will inform Steven of my presence," said a familiar voice.

 

"Padparadscha!!" Steven exclaimed happily.

 

Steven ran downstairs and pulled the off-color sapphire into a hug; after five seconds, Padparadscha kindly returned the hug.

 

"It is great to see you again, Steven," Padparadscha replied.

 

"Wait, why are you here?" he asked.

 

"Oh, well, Lars told me to give you this message," she said, pulling out Lars's phone and handed it to Steven, who pressed the play button on the video that had already been brought up.

 

The message played:

 

"Hey, Steven, look I know it's been two days since you left Homeworld and -

 

"LARS!!! THEY'RE COMING IN THROUGH THE TUNNELS!!! HURRY UP WITH THAT MESSAGE!!! WE NEED TO GET PADDY TO EARTH NOW!!!" Rhodonite exclaimed.

 

"Right, sorry Rhody. Anyways, the Off-Colors and I ran into a little bit of a jam and Rhodonite didn't want Paddy to get caught in it, so I sent her through my hair," Lars explained.

 

"GUYS!!! THERE'S LIKE FIFTY QUARTZ SOLDIERS IN THE KINDERGARTEN!!!" One of the Rutiles exclaimed.

 

"WE HAVE TO LEAVE, NOW!!!" the other Rutile finished.

 

"Right! Look, Steven; I gotta go, but I need you keep Paddy safe until we can make it to Earth. Oh, and don't try to come back and help, because getting you captured again is the last thing I need on my conscience," Lars said.

 

The message ended.

 

"Wow, I'm surprised a human's lasted this long on Homeworld," Pearl said astonished.

 

"Well, Pearl, Homeworld's changed Lars a lot and he's really starting to become a better person," Steven explained.

 

"Well, I'm glad to hear that," Pearl said. "Well, I'll go get breakfast ready, you two can talk amongst yourselves."

 

. . .

 

After changing out of his clothes and getting ready for the day, Steven and Padparadscha sat on the couch to talk.

 

"So, Paddy, how are things going with you and the other Off-Colors?" he asked.

 

After a few seconds, she replied.

 

"Oh, it's been going great, Steven, you won't believe how far we've come to find a way to get off Homeworld. You see, while we were exploring the Kindergarten we came across the Kindergarten Control Room and after few minutes of rewiring, we managed to get the central computer working. It took us days, but we managed to locate a docking bay located close to the Kindergarten."

 

Her expression turned serious.

 

"Unfortunately, we didn't know the computer was still being monitored. We thought that it was cut off from the rest of Homeworld's systems when the Kindergarten was abandoned and when we hacked into those secure files it set off an alarm alerting all nearby military facets on Homeworld to our presence.

 

"Oh my gosh!! Are the Off-Colors and Lars going to be okay?" Steven asked worriedly.

 

"Don't worry, Steven, they'll be fine. Lars has become much more resourceful since the last time you saw him" the sapphire replied after a few seconds.

 

Steven was just about say something else when suddenly, he felt a tingling sensation in his head.

 

As if on instinct, Steven pulled Padparadscha behind him and summoned his shield. Just in time to see a knife sailing towards him and bouncing harmlessly off of his shield.

 

"Oh my goodness!! Steven, I am so sorry. I accidentally tripped on a loose floorboard and --!" Pearl cut her sentence short when she caught sight of the scene before her.

 

"How did you know that was gonna happen?" Pearl asked.

 

"I didn't, I just felt this weird tingling sensation in my gem, and suddenly I lose control of my body, which grabs Paddy and has me put up a sheild" Steven explained.

 

Pearl gasped at his explanation, then broke into an ecstatic grin.

 

"What is it, Pearl?" Steven asked.

 

"Steven, you have your mother's Gem Senses!!" Pearl all but squealed excitedly.

 

"Gem Senses?" Steven asked confused.

 

"Well, Steven, Gem Senses are an ability that allows a gem to sense a threat before it happens and react to it accordingly," Pearl explained, "This ability is found naturally in Rose Quartzes and it was one the many advantages we had during the war."

 

Pearl had teared up by the end of her explanation, then got on her knees and pulled Steven into a hug.

 

"My little Steven is growing up so fast," Pearl said as tears of joy and pride filled her eyes.

 

Steven smiled before returning the hug. After a few seconds, they separated. It was then, that Steven remembered the dream.

 

"Oh, is Amethyst awake yet?" he asked.

 

"Actually, I haven't seen her yet," Pearl replied.

 

"Well, would it be okay if I went and talked to her for a moment?" Steven asked.

 

"Sure, I don't see why not," she replied.

 

"Cool, thanks," he said. Steven headed over to the temple and opened the entrance. But, before he made another step, Padparadscha spoke.

 

"I predict Steven will save me with his Gem Senses, OH, HOW EXCITING!!!" she said.

 

Pearl gave a confused look.

 

"She can only predict things that just happened," Steven explained.

 

"Oh," she said.

 

. . .

 

(Inside Amethyst's Room)

 

Entering the temple, Steven and Padparadscha searched among a vast amount of trash piles for Amethyst.

 

"Amethyst, are you still here?" Steven asked.

 

As if on cue, Amethyst jumped down from one of her many trash piles and greeted the two.

 

"Sup, Steven. Aaaww, who's this little cutie?" she asked petting the sapphires head.

 

"Oh, Amethyst, this is Padparadscha, she's one of the off-color gems I met on Homeworld," he said.

 

"I predict Steven will introduce me to Amethyst," the sapphire said.

 

"What's with her?" Amethyst asked.

 

"She's fine. She's a sapphire, but she can only predict things that just happened," he explained.

 

"Cool. So, anyway, you're not going to believe what happened last night. I had this dream that --"

 

"We were both in the Prime Kindergarten and we met Pink Diamond," they finished in unison.

 

"You had the same dream?" she asked, shocked.

 

"Yeah! Amethyst, do you think we should be worried?" he asked nervously.

 

"Well, probably not, I mean, she seemed like a nice person. But, Steven, that's not even the weirdest part, c'mon I need to show you this," she said grabbing his arm and heading towards another part of the room. Amethyst led them to what appeared to be a makeshift bedroom.

 

"Okay, so, I was getting out of bed and I was just stretching as I do every morning; then all of sudden, lightning shot out of my hand and made this happen," she said gesturing to a charred, broken TV.

 

"WOAH!!!" Steven exclaimed.

 

"That's what I said," she replied.

 

"Do you think that it might have something to do with the dream?" Steven asked.

 

"I don't know, maybe -- AAAUGHHH!!" she screamed clutching her head.

 

"Amethyst! are you okay?!!" Steven asked worriedly.

 

Amethyst couldn't respond as her head was wracked with a shattering headache followed by her blacking out.

 

. . .

 

"Woah, where am I?" Amethyst thought to herself. She had somehow appeared in a room filled with chemicals of varying color palettes and strange devices. The walls were lined with computer monitors and above the entrance to the room was the original four-diamond insignia. But what she saw next nearly made her pass out.

 

"What the heck is that?" she thought.

 

In the center of the room, stood a large container and inside it was a purple gemstone that looked identical to hers.

 

"Is that my gem?" she asked herself.

 

Suddenly, a large, pink hand reached into the container and pulled the gemstone out and when she turned around it revealed the silhouette of Pink Diamond.

 

"Are these her memories?" she thought

 

Pink Diamond stared at the gem in her before smiling and planting a kiss on it.

 

"I believe you will be something amazing . . . 8XM," Pink Diamond said.

 

Amethyst eyes widened when she heard that.

 

"She thinks I'm special?" Amethyst asked herself.

 

Before she had time to think any further, she was met with a bright flash.

 

. . .

 

"AMETHYST!!!"

 

The sound of Steven's voice brought her back to reality.

 

"Oh, my god, Amethyst, are you okay?" Steven asked.

 

Amethyst looked around and found herself back in her room.

 

"Yeah, Steven, I'm fine; but, what happened?" she asked.

 

"I don't know, you just doubled over in pain, like you were having a major headache and then your gem started glowing and your eyes turned completely white and then you passed out," Steven explained. "I was worried that something might've happened to you."

 

Amethyst gave Steven a comforting smile and she reached forward and ran her hand through his hair.

 

"Ah, don't worry, Steven, I'm not going anywhere. I'll be around after you graduate," Amethyst said.

 

"Amethyst, I'm homeschooled," Steven reminded her.

 

"Heh, well, you might wanna talk to Pearl about that," Amethyst said.

 

They shared a chuckle at that. After a few seconds, Amethyst suddenly remembered.

 

"Oh, yeah Steven, you're not gonna believe this; but while I was out, I saw Pink Diamond's memories," Amethyst explained.

 

"Woah, really?" Steven asked surprised.

 

"Yeah, I was in this weird room and I saw my gemstone inside a beaker and then there she..." Amethyst trailed off. "She said I was gonna be something amazing."

 

"Really? What do you think she meant?" Steven asked.

 

"No, idea but we're gonna find out," she said. "Any ideas on where we should look first?"

 

"Hmm, well; in the last dream, we were in the Prime Kindergarten and there was this strange building; so, maybe if we find this place we could get the answers that we need," Steven said.

 

"Alright then, let's go," Amethyst said.

 

The two got up and headed towards the temple door and just as it was opening, Padparadscha approached them.

 

"May I come with you? I've always wanted to see what the Kindergartens on Earth looked like," she said.

 

Steven and Amethyst talked about it for a moment and after a while, they agreed, "Sure, just try to stay safe."

 

The sapphire was silent for a few seconds and then she replied, "Oh, don't worry I will; I promise. But before we go there's something I need to do first."

 

Her gem glowed and her physical form was enveloped in a bright light; after a few seconds, the light subsided revealing a large star on Padparadscha's shirt and a few smaller stars on the bottom of her dress.

 

Steven smiled, "Welcome to the team, Paddy."

 

"It's an honor to be here," she replied as the trio exited Amethyst's room and walked onto the warp pad.

 

"Hey, Pearl, we're about to head to the Kindergarten," Steven said.

 

"Okay, be safe," Pearl replied.

 

Steven was surprised by this, "Really, you're actually letting me go?"

 

"Well, Steven, you've clearly grown over the years and became quite resourceful. Also; after what the sapphire told me about your stay on Homeworld, I'd say you're ready to handle things on your own."

 

"Cool, thanks; be sure to tell Garnet where we went, we'll be back soon, bye!" Steven said and as the trio was engulfed by the warp stream Padparadscha spoke.

 

"I predict that this will be the start of a great adventure," she said as the trio warped away.  


 

**. . .**

 

(Far, away from Earth, in the Human Zoo)

After their usual, grueling work routine, the Prime and Beta Gems were all resting peacefully in their cubbies. Well, all of them except for one royally pissed carnelian. Who, at the moment, was in the middle of angrily banging her mace into the walls of her cubby and growling.

 

After listening to her defective companion's tantrum for a few hours, Skinny decided to go down and see if she can calm down the small, hot-headed quartz.

 

"Is everything alright, Carnie?" Skinny asked.

 

"She did it, Skinny. That agate finally did it!" Carnelian shouted, punching a hole in her wall.

 

"Hmm. OK, you're gonna have be specific, 'cuz Holly pisses you off lots times, so what exactly did she do this time?" Skinny asked condescendingly.

 

"She's finally pushed me to my limit; She finally made me SNAP!!!" Carnelian replied, stepping out of her cubby and throwing her mace into the main entrance of the room, waking up every quartz soldier in the room.

 

This action completely shocked Skinny. Usually, when Holly angered Carnelian, the smaller quartz would just get on with her day with only a little bit of silent anger, and the occasional insults under her breath. But now, today was different. Carnelian never got this mad, so Holly must have done something that really set her off.

 

"Hey, Skinny, what's going on with your little sister?" 8XJ asked, jumping down from her resting quarters.

 

"Holly finally made her snap," Skinny explained.

 

Then Carnelian added," OH-HO-HO; JUST YOU WAIT, THE NEXT TIME I SEE HER, I'M GONNA SHOVE MY MACE SO FAR UP HER --!

 

"Woah, Woah, Woah; Carnie, calm down," said Skinny, worried about her sister.

 

"Yikes," said Sharky, approaching the group. "Whatever Holly said must have been pretty offensive."

 

"Okay; just calm down, Carnelian, tell us what happened," said 8XL

 

"Well," Carnelian started, "Earlier today, I accidentally knocked over a display case filled with gem destabilizers and while I was picking them up, Holly came by and she said 'Oh, I swear, you Earth gems are so clumsy. I mean seriously, if it were up to me, you and the rest the Earth-grown filth would've been harvested the moment you emerged. Honestly, It's no wonder you lost the war'."

 

Every quartz soldier in the room was open-mouthed, shocked at the cruel things Holly had said.

 

"Oh. My. GOD!! I-I-I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!!! WHO DOES HOLLY THINK SHE IS!?! SHE WASN'T THERE!! SHE DOESN'T NOW WHAT WE HAD TO GO THROUGH, WHAT GIVES HER THE RIGHT TO SAY WHO DESERVES TO SURVIVE?!!" Roared Sharky.

 

"Yeah. So now, I'm gonna walk up to her living quarters AND RIP THAT PRICK A NEW ONE!!!" Carnelian said, running towards the door.

 

Before she could get any closer to the door, Skinny grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug and gently started stroking her hair. Carnelian struggled in her grip; but after a while, she finally gave in.

 

"I'm sorry, guys. It's just that," she trailed off, tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm sick and tired of all this crap. We all nearly died fighting in a war for Homeworld and no one appreciates us for it. Meanwhile, the "Ultimate Quartz" is out getting pampered elsewhere in the galaxy.

 

Every Beta gem in the room groaned at the name.

 

Tears were rolling down her face as she continued,"People treat her like a war hero and she get's praised by Yellow Diamond; meanwhile, Holly treat's us like crap and Blue Diamond barely even knows we exist. Even though we fought in the same war. I'm sick of it!"

 

Skinny hugged her even harder and let Carnelian cry on her shoulder.

 

"Okay, Holly's, gone too far this time. Insulting us is one thing, but pushing my sister to tears is a line that should never be crossed," said Skinny, angrily. "We need to get outta this place and never come back."

 

"Yeah, that's a nice thought Skinny, but where would we go?" Chip asked.

 

"Home... we're going home," Skinny said hopefully.

 

Every quartz was shocked by this statement. Even though, the crystal gem Amethyst told them about the cluster's current status; none of them actually ever thought about going back to Earth.

 

"Are you sure about this, Skinny?" Chip asked.

 

Skinny looked down at Carnelian; who had fallen asleep on her shoulder with puffy eyelids and tear streaks on her cheeks.

 

"Look, Chip; Amethyst told us that Rose Quartz started the rebellion not only to protect Earth, but to let gems be what they wanted to be, no matter what their gem. She knew that this was how gems were treated and instead of letting this happen, she fought back. And won! The gems that followed her are living happy lives; while other gems are just seen as tools that can easily be replaced in the blink of an eye," Skinny spoke, standing up.

 

The other quartzes were all shocked by the seriousness in Skinny's voice.

 

"So to answer your question Chip; Yes, I'm sure about this," she said. "Besides, we have family on Earth."

 

Everyone's expression brightened at the thought of 8XM.

 

"Okay; then it's settled, tomorrow we're gonna figure out a way to bust out of here and get to Earth," 8XJ stated. "For now, we should probably get our rest."

 

Everyone agreed and returned to their respective cubby holes. Just as the other's were walking away, Skinny carried Carnelian to her resting quarters.

 

 _"Don't worry, sis. It'll all be over soon,"_ she whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the team, Paddy. Let's hope the Famethyst can escape; so Carnelian can rest easily. What type of answers will Amethyst find when she goes to the Kindergarten. Find out in the next chapter.
> 
> Anyways, guys I know I said I'd update quicker, but I had to fix a few spelling and grammar errors that I made; because I was really trying to rush this. Also, I only know the names of a few of the Famethyst, but if you know the names of the others; leave them in the comments along with your opinions about this chapter.
> 
> E/N: Changed around a whole lotta stuff. The meaning's usually the same, but stuff like, grammar, phrasing, and construction has been greatly improved


	4. Corruption Revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Secrets are revealed and risks are taken.

As Steven and Amethyst explored the Kindergarten, their new recruit marveled at the sight of the barren wasteland. There was something about the Prime Kindergarten that Padparadscha found breathtaking. This did not go unnoticed by Amethyst; who playfully smiled at the sapphires adorable, childlike curiosity.  
  
"Oh, my, I've never seen a Kindergarten that looks so alive," Padparadscha said, gleefully. Amethyst snorted at the sapphires statement. "Heh, heh, if this is what they look like when they're alive then I'd hate to see what they look like when they're completely drained." Padparadscha waited for a moment and then she shook her head. "Oh, no you misread me. You see, back on Homeworld, the Kindergartens are completely barren; no signs of gem-life or any technology. But here, this Kindergarten still has Injectors and an active warp pad; you can tell that other gems were here."  
  
Although still confused by this statement, Amethyst seemed to get the idea. The group suddenly came to a stop in front of a chain-linked fence with a sign that said "RESTRICTED AREA". The fence stood there, blocking off the entrance to another canyon.  
  
"You think the buildings through this fence, Steven?" Amethyst asked.  
  
"I don't know, let's climb over and -" Steven was cut off by Amethyst spin-dashing into the fence, putting a huge hole in it. "Nevermind, I guess we could just do that. C'mon, Paddy, let's go." Steven said as they went through the hole in the fence.  
  
As the trio made their way through this new canyon, they realized something was off. Unlike the rest of the Kindergarten, whose cliff-faces were lined with gem exit holes, this canyon had cliff-faces had no exit holes and were lined mostly with grass, moss, and flowers. The amount of plantlife increased as they traveled further.  
  
"Woah, dude. It's like they injected gems in every part of the Kindergarten; except here," Amethyst stated.  
  
When they came to the exit, they were greeted by what appeared to be an oasis. The land was covered with grass with pink hibiscus flowers growing out of the ground. The whole area was surrounded by large trees and pink rose bushes and it had a huge lake.   
  
"Oh, my stars, I've never seen something this beautiful in any Kindergarten," Padparadscha said, gleefully; Steven nodded in agreement. After looking around for a few seconds, his eyes widened at what he saw next. "Guys, look," he said, pointing.  
  
In the middle of it all was the building from Steven's dream; except this time it was covered in moss and vines.   
  
"Amethyst, we found it!" Steven exclaimed.  
  
"Alrighty then, let's get some answers," she said. But before they could move any further, a buzzing sound was heard from Steven's phone. "Ah, dude, who could be calling you at this time?" Amethyst said, frustrated.  
  
Steven pulled out his phone. "Oh, it's Connie, she wants to video chat," Steven explained, pressing a button; putting Connie's face on the screen.  
  
"Hey, Steven," Connie said. "I just called to tell you that Peridot wants us to come over; she said she made a great discovery."  
  
"Well, the last time peridot said she made a "great discovery" it was a bag of Doritos," Amethyst said. "So, let's not get our hopes up."  
  
Connie snickered at that statement. "Yeah well, who knows; maybe she might surprise us this time," Connie said.  
  
"Tell, Peridot that we'll be there in a minute," Steven said. It was then that Padparadscha spoke up. "Hello, I'm Padparadscha Sapphire. It's a pleasure to meet you, Connie."  
  
"Hehe, same here. Anyways, I'll see you guys later," Connie said, ending the call.  
  
Steven put his phone back in his pocket and let out a sigh.  
   
"Hey, Steven, I've been meaning to ask you; how are you and Connie doing, after that argument yesterday?" Amethyst asked. Steven looked at her with saddened eyes. "Well, we're on speaking terms; so that's something," Steven replied. Amethyst put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring stare. "Hey, don't worry about it, man. Look, Connie was really upset that you got taken away and she was really worried that you wouldn't come back. It's gonna take her a while to get over this whole thing," Amethyst said. "But, hey, I'm gonna be real with you. This tension between you guys isn't gonna break until the both of you work it out."  
  
Steven nodded. "Okay, I think I understand."  
  
"Good, now before we go, I need you to take a picture of the building so we can show it to Peridot later," Amethyst said. Steven nodded, snapping a picture of the building. As the trio made their way to the warp pad, unbeknownst to them, a figure was watching them from the inside of the building with a wide-eyed expression.  
  
"Oh, my stars, 8XM's alive!!!" the figure exclaimed.

 

 

**. . .**

 

  
(On the Human Zoo)

Carnelian was sleeping peacefully in her resting quarters when suddenly, she was awakened by Skinny shaking her awake. 

"Carnie, c'mon wake up!" Skinny exclaimed, shaking the small quartz vigorously. Carnelian stood up and stretched, letting out a loud yawn. "Hey, Skinny, what's going on?" she asked.

"C'mon, we're about to go," Skinny replied, lifting Carnelian off the floor and tucking her under her arm. Carnelian raised an eyebrow. "Go? Go where? she asked as Skinny carried her out of the room. "Well, after what happened last night me and the other quartzes decided to break out of this place and go back to Earth," Skinny explained.

Carnelian's eyes widened. "Woah, are you for real? Wait, how are you guys gonna manage this; the only ships we have are in the docking bay and I'm pretty sure Holly's gonna realize that one of them is missing."

Skinny smiled. "That's what we thought too. But, check this out," she said, placing Carnelian down and sitting down next to her. She pulled out a holo-pad and opened it to reveal the holographic-blueprints of the entire zoo. "See, right there,"Skinny said, pointing to the bottom of the hologram. "It's a cargo bay, our diamond used it to transport equipment, tools, gem tech; basically everything needed to keep this place running." Skinny pressed a button on the holo-pad opening up the surveillance system. "And right there, that's the cargo ship," Skinny explained, pointing at it.   
    
The cargo ship was large and pink. It had a cylindrical base and a dome-shaped cock-pit. It had two large wings, three tailfins, and three ion-thrusters. The ship stood on four robotic-limbs.

Skinny pushed another button, revealing the ship's schematics. "The ship has everything we need for our escape; blasters, holding cells, and it has a hyperdrive engine, but the things busted; so we might have to stop by the salvage yard to get a replacement. But, all and all, I'd say we might have a chance."

Carnelian eyes were filled with stars as she gave a wide, toothy grin. "Oh, my stars, Skinny this is unbelievable. I can't believe this; we're finally going home."

Suddenly, Skinny's communicator beeped. Turning it on, it revealed Jay. "Alright, Skinny, Me and the other quartz soldiers made it the cargo ship. We're waiting for you and Carnelian," she said. "Now, before I go any further, I want you to know that once we do this; there's no going back, we'll immediately be labeled as traitors. So, are you sure you want to go through with this?" Jay asked.

Skinny thought back to last night's events; the anger boiling inside her knowing that Holly had hurt her sister in the worst way possible and the concern she felt seeing Carnelian cry her eyes out, she then snapped out of her thoughts and answered. "Yes."

Jay nodded. "Okay, then. You have ten minutes; we have to be off the zoo by then." When the transmission ended the two stood up and made their way to the cargo bay. After walking along a series of hallways, a realization hit Carnelian.

"Hold on, Skinny, what did she mean by ten minutes and how are we gonna get the ship out of the cargo bay without it being detected?" Carnelian asked.   

Skinny smirked. "Way, ahead of you, sis."

Suddenly, all of the lights and power went out and the whole station went dark. "That's our cue, we gotta go!" Skinny exclaimed, lifting up the smaller quartz and tucking her under her arm before she ran through the corridor. "Woah! Skinny what was that?" Carnelian asked as they turned right at a corner. "Jay connected the ship's control module to the zoo's power grid. She shut off all the power and disabled the surveillance systems," Skinny explained. "But, we have to hurry; it'll only last ten minutes.

The two came to a large stairwell going downward. Skinny let out a frustrated sigh before she leaped off the first step, floating down twenty-four flights of stairs and landing gracefully on her feet before running through another series of hallways before reaching the cargo bay, where the cargo ship stood docked in the center.

"Well, Carnie, there it is; our ticket home," Skinny said. Just as they were walking towards the entrance of the ship, Skinny was hit by an electric shock, causing her to lose her grip on Carnelian as she flew into the wall.

"I must say, your plan was brilliant considering it was made by a defective," said a familiar. Skinny looked up to see Holly Blue Agate standing in front of her, holding her electric whip. Holly glared down at her. "It's too bad that this as far as it'll get you."

Skinny glared back at the agate as Holly continued. "I'm mean seriously, you didn't think that there were security cameras in the barracks. I saw your whole conversation and I'm afraid I can't let you - AAAWWW!!!" Holly's rant was cut off by an orange spear getting launched through her shoulder.

"I should've done that last night, after what you said to Carnelian," Skinny said, summoning another spear.

Holly pulled the first spear out of her shoulder, letting it disappear into nothing and cracked her whip. Skinny charged at her with her spear pointed but Holly moved sideways out of her path and kicked her in her in the back, making her drop her weapon as she was sent skidding across the floor. 

Skinny cringed in pain as she looked up to see Holly standing over her. "Did you honestly think you would win? I'm an agate; your superior, I outrank you and you're just a weak defect whose forgotten her place in the hierarchy." As she spoke, Holly wrapped Skinny up in her electric whip. "And it's about time I re-educated you."

Skinny screamed in pain as Holly's whip electrocuted her. She tried her best to endure the pain but it only made it worse. After a few seconds, she stopped resisting and just gave in.

Holly looked down at the quartz with a smug grin on her face. "Oh, and before you even bother to ask, I already sent the footage of your little act of rebellion directly to the diamonds. So, don't expect the rest of your group to be so lucky.

Carnelian looked at the scene in front her; the sight of Holly torturing Skinny made her snap. Carnelian got up and ran at the agate, summoning her mace. "Step off my sister, you prick!" she said, pulling the weapon back and ramming it into Holly's leg.

Holly yelled out in pain as she fell down, dropping her whip and letting phase out of existence. While Holly was nursing her broken leg, Skinny and Carnelian joined together and formed group spin dash and flew right at the agate. Before Holly could react, she was struck by the duo's combined attack and she was sent flying into one of the large ceiling lights, getting electrocuted in the process before falling back down onto the floor. 

Skinny and Carnelian cheered and high-fived each other. "Not so bad for two defective gems huh, Holly?" Skinny asked, sarcastically. Holly tried to get back up but fell back down due to her leg still being broken. "Well, what are you gonna do now? Shatter me?" Holly asked, hysterically. "Well, go ahead then; my diamond's already gonna do it when she finds out I let you escape, so just get it over with."

Skinny and Carnelian looked at each other, they both felt conflicted after hearing the agate's statement. After a few moments of silence, Carnelian spoke up. "It doesn't have to be this way Holly; you could come with us. Then you won't ever have to worry about the threat of being shattered. You could be free," Carnelian explained.

Holly snapped at the small quartz. "Do you honestly think I would let myself be affiliated with scum like you?!?!" she exclaimed. "You know I bet she's the reason for this little uprising."

"Who is this "she" you're referring to?" Skinny asked, suspicious. 

"Don't play dumb with me; you know who I'm talking about!" Holly shouted. "That little runt of an amethyst that was with the crystal gems; she sparked this rebellion, didn't she? You saw that twerp go up against an elite gem such as myself and now you want to recreate her actions. It's because of that purple brat that you and your whole team will be -!"

Holly's endless rant was cut off by a large purple hand grabbing her by the back of her head and slamming her face into the wall, putting a huge crack in the wall and knocking Holly unconscious.

"Woah, dang, Jay!" Skinny exclaimed.

Jay glared down at the unconscious agate. "Never speak of 8XM like that ever again," she said. Jay turned to the two quartz soldiers and smirked. "Well, what are you waiting for? The power will be back on in three minutes; let's go," she said. "Oh, and before you ask; the humans will be fine. I set the power grid to go out for ten minutes, they should be awake and the power should be back on by that time. As much as I hate it here, I would never try to put them in danger, after all, we both came from the same planet."

Both beta quartzes stared at each other, shocked by Jay's statement. Then Jay spoke again. "Well don't just stand there, let's go. The sooner we get Holly into one of the ship's holding cells the sooner we get off this station," she said, setting Holly on top of her shoulders and made her way to the ship, followed by Skinny and Carnelian.

"You're letting us take her with us?" Carnelian asked. "Well, yeah. It's obvious that you guys don't want her to die and neither do I; now c'mon let's go home," Jay said.

The three quartzes boarded the vessel, letting the door close behind them. The cargo ship activated and hovered off the ground before the ion-thrusters ignited, sending the ship flying into the depths of outer space.

 

 

**. . .**

 

  
(Back on Earth, at the Barn)

Peridot was excitedly making preparations to show off her greatest achievement. She was just making the final adjustments when Lapis flew in.

"Hey, Peridot, have you seen Pumpkin; I was gonna take her out for a jog?" Lapis asked.

"Not since this morning, but I think I saw her hanging around the crops," she replied.

"Great, Thanks," Lapis said, summoning her water wings. Before she took off, she noticed something. "Uh, Peridot, what's this?" she asked, de-summoning her water wings and picking something off the floor.

Peridot looked up and nearly had a heart attack when she saw what Lapis was holding. "LAPIS, NO, DON'T LOOK AT IT!!!" she exclaimed.

Lapis tried but failed to hold it all in. "AHAHAHA *snort* AHAHA!!! *snort*!!!" Lapis laughed as she fell down on the floor.

Peridot covered her face, embarrassed. "Oh my, goodness. Peridot, is this what I think it is?" Lapis asked, knowingly.

In her hand was a framed picture of Amethyst decorated with heart stickers.

A dark, green blush rose on Peridot's cheeks. "I-I-It's not what it looks like!" Peridot shouted.

"You have a crush on Amethyst!!!" Lapis shouted, mockingly.

This made Peridot blush even harder. "W-WHAT!!! NO, I DON'T!!!" Peridot exclaimed.

"Oh, yeah, then why are you blushing?" Lapis asked.

Peridot put her hands on her cheeks. "So what if I do have feelings for her?" she asked.

"AAAWWW, you two would make a cute couple. Just wait until Amethyst hears about this," Lapis replied.

"No, you can't tell her!" Peridot screamed.

"Oh, yeah and why shouldn't I?" Lapis asked, smugly. "Because if you do, I'll tell Steven that you've been flirting with the mailman," Peridot replied.

Lapis was shaken by this. "Hey, Jamie's cute," Lapis said, dark, blue blush forming on her cheeks. "Fine, I won't tell her. But I think you should," she said, summoning her water wings and making her way to the door.

The sound of a warp pad can be heard in the distance, indicating the arrival of Peridot's two favorite gems. Lapis opened the door to reveal Steven, Amethyst, and their newest recruit.

"Lapis!!!" Steven exclaimed, pulling her into a hug. "I haven't seen you in forever." The blue gem giggled and returned the hug. "Hey, Steven, I'm glad to see you're okay. The gems told us what happened; sorry I wasn't there to help.

"It's okay, Lapis. It was just bad timing and to be fair we should've told you and Peridot about it instead of handling it on our own," he replied and that seems to satisfy the blue gem. Steven was then greeted by Peridot

"Oh, Steven. It's great to see you alive and still in one p--"

Peridot cut her sentence short when she saw Amethyst. "Oh, h-hi Amethyst," Peridot said, nervously. 

"Hey, Peri," Amethyst replied.

Peridot was allured by the sound of Amethyst's voice.  _"She's so gorgeous,"_ she thought. Peridot stood there admiring Amethyst's beauty. Her long, luxurious hair looked so soft that Peridot could barely hold back the urge to touch it, her beautiful violet eyes were hypnotic, and she had the most elegant curves. Peridot just wanted to stand there and look at her forever.

"Hello! Peridot, you still with us?" Amethyst asked, waving her hand in the green gem's face, snapping her out of her trance. "Oh, Y-Yeah, sorry about that," Peridot replied, blushing. She could hear Lapis giggling in the background.  _"Oh, my stars, this is so humiliating,"_ Peridot thought to herself. "Anyways, what were you guys saying."

"Oh, yeah, we'd like to introduce you to our newest member," Steven said, gesturing to the sapphire. "Peridot, this is--"

"Padparadscha Sapphire," Peridot said, shocking Steven and Amethyst. "I'm a fully licensed Kindergartener, remember; I've got knowledge about every gem that was ever made.

"Oh, okay. Hey, Lapis, come say hi to Paddy," Steven said. Lapis stared at the sapphire. "Hi," she said. After five seconds, Padparadscha replied. "It's very nice to meet you, I don't see a lot of Lazuli's on Homeworld; I must say your dress looks lovely." Lapis giggled at her response.

"I like her she's cute," Lapis said before she flew off in search of Pumpkin. It was at this time that Connie came through the barn doors with Lion and when she and Steven saw each other they stared into each other's eyes.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," he replied.

The two stood there in complete silence before Peridot chimed in. "Okay, now that everyone is here let me show you what I've been working on," Peridot said. The green gem led the group to a set of tables covered with computer parts which appeared to be a makeshift lab. "Okay, now tell me: do these look familiar?" Peridot asked, placing strange green items on the table. Steven and Amethyst immediately recognized them.

"Holy, smokes! Dot, you found your limb enhancers!" Amethyst exclaimed.

"Well, actually, Lapis found them during her morning flights, but that's not all; look closer," Peridot said. Getting a closer look at her limb enhancers, it appeared that they had pieces missing, wires hanging out of them, and they looked completely destroyed. "Dang, tough break; sorry dude," Amethyst said.

"Oh, no, you don't understand; I did this," Peridot explained.

"WHAT?!" They all said at the same time. Well, except for Padparadscha, who said it after five seconds.

"Peridot, why would you do that?" Steven asked.

"Well, you see Steven, I wanted to cut off all ties with Yellow Diamond and by destroying these limb enhancers I can now easily say that I don't need her anymore," Peridot explained. Steven thought about it for a moment before he said. "Okay, I guess that makes sense." Peridot continued. "Besides, I needed the parts for my latest invention. Behold," Peridot said holding it up. "The Gem-Pad!"

The Gem-Pad looked just like Peridot's tablet, except now it was green and it looked more technologically advanced, the screen, while it was still made of glass, looked almost holographic, around the screen you could see the robotic fingers from Peridot's old limb enhancers, and the back of the tablet had a large yellow star sticker on it.

"Well, what do you think?" Peridot asked. Connie was the first to speak up. "Peridot, this is amazing, but what can it do?"

"I'm glad you asked," Peridot said. "You see, after destroying my limb enhancers, I decided to do what I do best: invent things to help the team and adjust to my living environment. I used the technology from my old finger screens to upgrade my tablet to what you see now. The Gem-Pad has the ability to activate any form of technology, it has a built-in human and gem detector, a high-frequency audio recorder that can record from a long distance, a satellite radar to detect any ships that might enter earth atmosphere, it has its own built-in wifi, and a scanner that I can use to scan for schematics, identify unknown creatures, or check on a gem's status." The group stared in complete awe when suddenly, Padparadscha said, "Oh, my stars. Peridot, why would did you destroy your limb enhancers?"

Steven, Amethyst, and Connie chuckled at the sapphires late vision. Peridot raised an eyebrow before continuing. "Anyway, this brings me to why I called you here. Follow me." Peridot led the group to a cellar door. Opening it, she led them down a couple of stairs to a room filled with a large array of tables covered with desktops with a single laptop, a counter covered with test tubes, a bunsen burner, and a microscope, and a large computer screen on the wall. "Welcome to my lab," Peridot said.

"How did you afford all of this?" Connie asked.

"Turns out, the supermarket pays a fortune for crops," Peridot explained. "Now back on topic, I've recently read a book online about the human body and after I finished reading, it got me thinking about you, Steven." Everyone looked in his direction.

"Me?" Steven asked, pointing to himself. The green gem simply nodded. "Yes. Its come to my attention that through my past experiences with you, that as a hybrid you're not like most gems or humans. You still have the basic physiology, traits, and weaknesses of most human and yet, they don't seem to negatively affect or prohibit the use of your basic gem abilities.

Steven scratched his head. "Um, thanks."

Peridot continued. "Now then, this raises the question about your human biology. If you don't mind, I would like to do a scan." The young hybrid though about it for a moment before he said, "Sure, why not."

The Gem-Pad projected a green light, scanning Steven's whole entire body. After getting the results, Peridot pressed a few buttons before the results re-appeared on the laptop which displayed it on the much larger computer screen on the wall. "It's just as I suspected," she said.

"What is it, Peridot?" Steven asked. 

"Well, Steven, it seems that somehow your human body has adapted to function alongside your gem," she replied typing on the laptop keyboard. "Now look at this ordinary diagram of the human body," she said pulling it up on the computer screen. "According to this, a large portion of the human body seems to be made up of water and the body uses this water to create sweat, tears, that one disgusting form of liquid human waste that I will never speak, and saliva. OK, now Steven, Garnet told me that you possessed healing saliva. Is that correct?"

"Yeah," he replied.

"Then that means, my theory is correct. Hold on for a second," the green gem said. Peridot typed on the Gem-Pad and the whole screen flashed green. "OH, MY STARS, YES!!!"

"Um, Peridot, exactly what are you getting so hyped about?" Amethyst asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"Well, according to the scans, the water in Steven's body contains large amounts of healing properties," she replied, excitedly. "Do you have any idea what this means?"  

Everyone thought about it, but then they just shake their heads. So Peridot explains, "Steven, do you remember that corrupted gem that I captured back in the Beta Kindergarten?"

"Yeah, what about it?" he asked. Before the green gem could reply, Padparadscha spoke up. "I predict that Peridot's theory will be proven correct. Congratulations, Peridot." Peridot simply stared in confusion. "Um, thanks, I guess. Anywho, I've recently done some scans on its gem and look what I've found." Peridot punched in a few things on the Gem-Pad before it projected a hologram of some strange looking objects. "The results show that the creatures gem has been contaminated by some type of bacterial pathogen. I originally thought that the pathogen was gem-based; but after running a few diagnostics, the results showed that the pathogen was an organic, fungal form of bacteria that's been infused with a gem-based compound," Peridot explained. "The compound allows the pathogen to bond itself to a gem's DNA and their cerebral cortex. Once it does that, it starts causing major damage to the gem's body and mind. As a result, the damage to the body causes the gem to take on a more monstrous appearance and the damage to the gem's mind causes them to lose any memory that they had about what they used to look like and any memory about their past lives."

The whole group was astonished by everything they just heard. "Oh, my god," Connie said. "Guys, are you seeing this --"

Connie was cut off by the sound of sniffling. Everyone turned around to find Padparadscha crying in the corner. Steven walked towards the sapphire and asked, "Is something wrong, Paddy?"

After five seconds, the sapphire turned around to face him, tears flowing from her eye. "T-This isn't right! No gem deserves this kind of punishment!" Padparadscha cried, tears pouring out of her eye. "The diamonds always say that a single gem is easily expendable, but I never thought we were this expendable!" Steven placed a hand on the sapphires shoulder. "It's going to be okay, Paddy. Finding a cure for corruption is one of the many things that me and the gems are trying to accomplish," Steven explained, smiling warmly. "Don't worry, someday we're gonna help these gems." This got the sapphire to smile and wipe away her tears. "Thanks, Steven. I needed that."

"Well, Steven looks like that day is coming sooner than you think," Peridot explained.

"Really, why?" Steven asked.

"Well, Steven my recent studies show that the water in the human body also makes up the liquid part of blood. With that in mind, that means that your blood could also contain some healing properties, but unlike your healing saliva, they might be more active due to your antibodies.

"Anti-whats?" Amethyst asked, confused.

"Anti-bodies," Connie explained. "Found in the bloodstream, the human body uses them to fight off viruses and bacteria.

"Affirmative," Peridot said. "OK, now Steven, would you mind if I take a sample of your blood to conduct more research?"

"Well, if it can help to find a cure for corruption then, sure," Steven answered.

 

 

**. . .**

 

 

Back inside the barn, everyone waited as Peridot conducted her analysis.

Steven rubbed his, now bandaged, arm and gazed at the floor. He felt something on his shoulder and he turned around to come face-to-face with Connie. The girl pulled her hand back and the two children awkwardly turned away from each other. Just when it looked like Steven was gonna speak, Peridot emerged from her lab.

"Well, everyone the results are in," she stated. 

"Well?" Amethyst asked, curiously.

Peridot smiled. "A full one hundred percent. Steven, your blood is the cure."

"YES!" Steven and Connie both cheered at the same time, pulling each other into a hug. But when the realization hit them, they nervously pulled away from each other.

"WOOOOH, Alright, Peri!" Amethyst exclaimed, giving the green gem a tight hug. Peridot let out a surprised squeak as a green blush began to take over her face.  _"Wow, she's so warm and she smells like the sweetest strawberries,"_ Peridot thought.

"Yo, Dot, you still there?" Amethyst asked, shaking the green gem out of her trance. Peridot immediately came back to reality.  _"Stars, I have got to stop doing that,"_ she thought.

"So, what now?" Amethyst asked.

"Well, Steven's blood can possibly cure corruption, but it needs two more components in order for it to work,"Peridot explained.

"Like, what?" Connie asked.

"It's simple really, it needs a gem-based healing element and a DNA-sample from a corrupted gem," Peridot replied.

"Well, there is the tears from mom's fountain. Maybe, that could act as a healing element," Amethyst said.

"Yeah, and remember that corrupted gem that Jasper fused with?" Steven asked.

"You mean, the Ocean Jasper," Peridot asked.

"Yeah, if she's still around the Beta Kindergarten then maybe we could get a DNA sample from it," Steven explained.

"Alright, then. Let's head out," Peridot said. Before they could make it to the door Padparadscha said, "Everyone I just had the most wonderful vision."

"What is it, Paddy?" Connie said.

"I predict that Steven's blood will be the cure for corruption. Oh, how wonderful!" she said. Everyone chuckled at her delayed reaction and headed towards the exit. Just as Steven opened the door, Pumpkin came running inside followed by Lapis. When the little vegetable saw Padparadscha, she pounced on the sapphire. Padparadscha giggled as Pumpkin licked her face.

"Where are you guys going?" Lapis asked.

"Well, first, we're heading out to mom's fountain to get some her healing tears and then we're heading out to the Beta Kindergarten to look for the corrupted gem that Jasper fused with," Steven explained.

At the mention of Jasper, Lapis shuddered for a bit before she said, "I'm coming with you."

"Really?" Steven asked. 

"Steven you just got captured by enemy gems and now you're going after a corrupted gem that has some connection towards Jasper. There's no way I'm letting you out of my sight; your safety is important to me," she stated.

"Aaawww, thanks, Lapis," Steven said. "C'mon, guys, let's go.

"Pumpkin, follow," Lapis said.

Pumpkin followed after her two owners as the group made their way to the warp pad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I was supposed to have this chapter posted on Wednesday, but my teacher thought it would be a "great idea" to give us two projects over Thanksgiving break. Anyways, guys, I hoped you enjoyed the chapter. In the next chapter, we'll get to check up on the Famethyst's escapades in space. Also if you think you know who was spying on Amethyst from that building in the Kindergarten, leave your suggestion in the comments along with your thoughts about this chapter.
> 
> Anyways, credit goes to:
> 
> realfakedoors for his idea about Steven's blood. Go check out his story Convictions and Captivity on Archive of Our Own.
> 
> Lemurian99 for his idea about the Gem-Pad. Go check out his story about his Steven Universe and the Great Diamond Conspiracy on fanfiction.net
> 
> Anyways, that's it for now guys. Bye.


	5. Famethyst in Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the Famethyst journey through space, they come face to face with a new threat.

****When Holly Blue Agate awoke, all she could see was pink. She looked in front her to find what appeared to be a destabilizer field. When she tried to get up, she found that she couldn't move her legs or her arms. After further examination, she realized that she was tied-up inside a holding cell.

 

"Morning, starshine."

 

Holly jumped when she heard that voice. She looked up to see that the voice belonged to that runty carnelian. "Where am I?" Holly asked, adjusting herself until she was in a sitting position.

 

“You're in space, sweetheart," said Carnelian, smirking.

 

Holly's eyes widened in a mixture of shock, disgust, and fear. "YOU KIDNAPPED ME!!!" she exclaimed. She tried to position herself onto her knees, but she fell back down due to the immense, stabbing pain in her leg.

 

"Yeah, I probably should've told you that your leg hasn't healed yet, but you were unconscious at the time so, not much I could’ve, or would’ve, done," Carnelian said, shrugging.

 

This agitated the agate. "Of course it hasn't healed you… you, you defective, off-color traitor! YOU BROKE IT!" she shouted.

 

"Hey, I've been on a space station with you for five thousand years. You're lucky that's the only thing I broke," Carnelian replied, casting a threatening look at Holly.

 

"How could you do this!? My diamond saved you, and this is how you thank her?" Holly asked, angrily.

 

The small quartz glared at Holly, "Oh, yes. Thank you, Blue Diamond, for isolating us from the rest of Homeworld, helping Yellow Diamond destroy our home planet, and leaving us on a space station under the management of the meanest gem in all existence," she said, sarcastically “Is that what you want to hear?” she spat.

 

"What are you implying?" Holly asked.

 

"Blue Diamond, only spared us just so she can have something to remember Pink Diamond," Carnelian said. "She never lets us go to any coliseums to fight or go on any missions that involve combat. Why? Because she doesn't want to lose any part of Pink Diamond's legacy. We're quartz soldiers; our purpose is to fight and she won't even let us do that."

 

“You should be grateful to be apart of your Diamond’s legacy,” Holly scoffed.

 

“Hey, I’m loyal to Pink Diamond to the end. But the thing is, she actually let us do our assigned purpose,” the small quartz said. “How would you feel if you couldn’t act on the one purpose you were given?”

 

“That’s different, my diamond created me to serve a much higher purpose,” Holly stated, struggling to untie herself. “It’s not her fault that your only purpose is to punch stuff.”

 

This, in turn, infuriated Carnelian. “Say that again and I’ll punch you,” she snarled. “Bottom line, Homeworld has never been home to us. So, now we’re going back to the place where we feel home is: Earth.”

 

Holly glared at the impudent quartz. “Your actions disgrace your diamond’s memory!”

 

“Actually, she’d probably be happy that we’re going to a better place. Because, unlike the others, if she saw the way you treated us, she’d actually care,” Carnelian said. “Speaking of which, you oughta be really grateful that I talked Skinny out of torturing you for every mean thing you did to us for the past five thousand years.”

 

“Torture!?” Holly exclaimed, panicking.

 

“Yeah, and she had a great idea; she was gonna spank you with her spear,” Carnelian said, chuckling at the thought.

 

Holly cringed at the mental image of that.

 

“Relax, I said I managed to talk her out of it, didn’t I?” Carnelian explained.

 

Holly let out a sigh of relief at the reminder.

 

“I told Skinny that your brick wall of a behind would cushion anything we could hit it with,” the small quartz replied, letting out a hearty, nasally laugh.

 

Holly blushed in utter humiliation at the quartzes statement. “Okay, that is the most inappropriate thing I’ve ever heard you say.”

 

“Hey, in my defense, the others thought it was hilarious,” Carnelian replied, giggling. After her laughter died down, she pressed a button on the side of the cell and after a moment the destabilizer field deactivated.

 

Holly Blue Agate raised an eyebrow. “What in diamonds name are you doing?” she asked.

 

“Look, Holls, the only reason we brought you with us is so you don’t get shattered when Blue Diamond finds out that you failed to stop our escape, as well as that one where 8XM came to crash the party,” Carnelian explained. “So, I guess you could say that you’re more of a passenger than a prisoner.

 

“Then why, pray tell, was I tied up and placed in a holding cell?” the agate snarled, gesturing to the chains tied around her.

 

“Hello, remember?” Carnelian mocked, waving a hand in front of her face. “Back at the human zoo, you alerted the diamonds about our escape plan. We can’t have you running around the ship and giving our coordinates to an emerald or something,” Carnelian explained. “Now, c’mon the others are waiting in the cockpit.”

 

Holly shot an unamused glance at the diminutive quartz. “Seriously, I’m tied up and my leg is broken. Do you expect me to roll myself all the way there?” she asked, sarcastically.

 

Carnelian giggled. “Okay, as funny as that would be to watch, no. I’m actually gonna carry you there.”

 

Holly’s eyes widened at the suggestion. “Oh, no, I’d still like to retain some semblance of dignity. I’m not gonna let myself be carried around by some small, defective -- wo-WOAH!!” Holly’s long-winded rant was cut off by Carnelian picking her up, hoisting her up on her shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and carrying her down the hall.  

 

“PUT ME DOWN!!! PUT ME DOWN, RIGHT THIS INSTANT!!! THERE WILL BE SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES FOR THIS, JUST YOU WAIT!!! I’M SERIOUS, THIS IS NOT FUNNY!!! PUT ME DOWN!!!” Holly complained.

 

"Hey, you got the better end of the deal, wide load," Carnelian commented. "You think I enjoy having my face this close to your oversized butt?"

 

Holly blushed at the quartz’s comment. “Seriously, it’s not even that big,” she stated, albeit somewhat shakily.

This made Carnelian smirk. “So, you admit that it’s huge,” she said, letting out another one of her trademark cackles.

 

The agate groaned in embarrassment and disgust. “I swear, you are the most inappropriate gem I’ve ever met.”

 

“Well, duh,” Carnelian replied. “I’m a quartz, not a pearl. You don’t see me standing around talking all that fancy-schmancy silt.”

  


After walking for a few moments, Carnelian finally arrived at the cockpit, where the other quartzes were either talking amongst themselves or roughhousing while Skinny sat in the pilot seat navigating the ship through hyperspace.

 

“Hey, guys. Look who finally woke up,” Carnelian announced, gesturing towards the agate on her shoulder.

 

Surprisingly,  the amethysts and jaspers Holly politely, which stunned the agate.

 

“Hold on. Earlier you were talking about torturing me and now you’re all friendly; what changed?” Holly asked, suspicious.

 

“Well, why wouldn’t we be?” 8XL asked. “Once we exit hyperspace, we get to go back home and maybe even see our little sister.”

 

“Well, actually, that won’t be until the next jump to hyperspace,” Skinny explained. “We need to stop by the scrapyard on Elliosmicron 8 to pick up a new hyperdrive core. This one doesn’t have enough energy to launch us straight to Earth.”

 

“Wait, what if we get caught?” Holly asked, worried. Every quartz in the room turned to stare in her direction

 

“We?” Jay asked. “Where’d all this “we” stuff come from? Just a few hours ago I slammed your face into a wall.”

 

“Oh, I could care less if you all get shattered, but if they see me with you, they might think I’m the ringleader for this whole thing,” Holly stated.

 

“This is an Era 1 scrap yard we’re talking about; the diamonds only care about the new era stuff. ‘Sides, only two of us are gonna leave the ship: me and Ellie,” Skinny said, gesturing towards 8XL. “So until we get there just sit down or something.”

 

Carnelian carried the agate to a rather large chair and placed her down in a sitting position. “I’d place you in one of the regular sized seats, but let’s face it, your “cargo area” would just get stuck in it or it might just swallow the whole entire seat.” The quartzes shared a hearty laugh at her remark.

 

“Okay, that joke is old and tired now,” Holly stated, blushing.

 

Soon the laughter died down and everything became awkwardly quiet until Jay spoke up. “So, Holly, did you suffer from any concussions after I slammed your face into the wall?” she asked, smugly.

 

“Okay, this conversation is over!” Holly declared.

 

**. . .**

 

(a few hours later)

 

The ship had exited hyperspace and landed safely on the planet Elliosmicron 8, a wasteland piled high with scrap metal, old equipment, machine parts, and old ship parts.

 

“Okay, guys, we’re here,” Skinny announced. “Now, remember the plan; me and Ellie are going to go look for a hyperdrive core and you guys are gonna keep an eye on things here and contact us if things get crazy. Carnelian, you’re in charge until I get back.”

 

The red quartz nodded as Skinny and 8XL exited the ship.

 

Holly scoffed. “Putting a defective gem in charge of something; guess there’s a first for everything.”

 

Carnelian frowned. “Let’s not forget, Holls, this defective gem kicked your butt back at the zoo, and considering how much it there was to kick, I’m surprised I didn’t break my foot while doing it.”

 

The red gem’s roast was backed up by a chorus of “oooohhh’s”.

“Honestly, do you have a full list of jokes about my posterior?” Holy asked, frustrated.

 

“We all do; you wanna hear ’em?” Jay asked, chuckling.

 

"Is this the reason you brought me with you? So you can gloat at me before you hand me over to the Crystal Gem's to be shattered?" Holly said, irritated. The quartzes expressions fell in unison when they heard this statement and they stared at one another.

 

"Holly, you know that's not the reason we brought you with us," Sharky explained.

 

"Yeah, Holly, we were just messing with you, can't you take a joke?" Chip added.

 

"Then why did you bring me?" she asked. The quartzes looked at each other, contemplating on what to say. "Well?" The quartzes just continued to stare in complete silence. "I'm waiting."

 

"Because our diamond would've wanted us to!" Carnelian snapped, tired of the tension that had been coming to a head up until that point. The agate’s expression turned shocked at the tiny gem's response.

 

"What?" Holly asked, surprised.

 

"If our diamond was here, she would've wanted us to take you with us so you wouldn't be shattered," Carnelian continued. "Oh, and believe me, after what you said back at the zoo, nothing would've made me happier than leaving you to bite the dust. Speaking of which, let's get something straight, okay? Homeworld lost the war; we lost everything."

 

Holly was absolutely stunned by this new information. Before she could reply, a beeping sound was heard from the ship's monitor. Carnelian went up to it and pressed a button. Immediately, a large, holographic screen appeared and showed a strange object entering the planet’s atmosphere.

 

“Aw, shards,” the runty quartz complained.

 

“Something wrong, Carnie?” Jay asked, concerned.

 

“Guys, a ship is about to land here,” she explained. Everyone’s eyes widened in shock and panic and they looked at one another in deep distress.

 

“Um, guys. You might wanna come see this,” Sharky said. Everyone huddled around the viewport and saw a large ship descending upon the surface.

 

It was a red ship, shaped like a blimp, and clearly spelling out the fears of the crew. “Aw, crud! We gotta warn Skinny!” Sharky exclaimed, running to fetch her communicator. Meanwhile, Carnelian stood there and gazed at the ship in fascination. After some time, she smirked as a devious plan began to form in her head.

 

“Alright, I need five of you guys from both facets to come with me,” she announced.

 

“Why?” asked a jasper named Bee, who had a gem in her right eye.

 

“Well, let’s just say; I think I’ve found a way to get new hyperdrive core,” Carnelian said with a devious smirk.

 

(Meanwhile)

 

“Okay, we’ve been searching for almost an hour and now I can easily say that if we do find this hyperdrive core it’s either inactive or in pieces,” Ellie explained, digging through another pile of scrap metal.

 

“I know this is taking longer than we originally thought, but we can’t give up now. We’ve come too far,” Skinny replied, lifting up an old ion thruster.

“I’m serious, Skinny. I mean what if we can’t find a hyperdrive core and all of this was for nothing?” Ellie asked.

  


“C’mon, Ellie, don’t talk like that,” Skinny said. “Look, think about what we have to earn from this. We can finally get back one of the things we lost during the war: our home. We could be free, we’d finally get the respect we deserved, and think about 8XM. Isn’t she worth the risk?”

 

Ellie smiled at the mention of her little sister. “I guess so.”

 

Suddenly, Skinny’s communicator beeped. When she answered it, the screen revealed Sharky, who seemed to be panicking. “Alright, talk to me, Sharky.”

 

“Skinny, you and Ellie need to get back to the ship now. Like, _right now_ ,” she replied.

 

“What? Why?” Skinny asked.

 

“Listen, a battlecruiser just landed and I don’t think they came here looking for spare parts. You guys gotta get outta there NOW!” Sharky exclaimed.

 

“Okay, get the engines started; we’re on our way,” Skinny said.

 

**BZAP! CRLK!**

 

Out of nowhere, a green laser struck her communicator, destroying it. Skinny and Ellie turned around to be greeted by a peridot with square-shaped hair and a triangular-shaped gem in her left eye.

 

“They’re right here, commander! Just as the scanners indicated!” exclaimed the peridot.

 

“Excellent work, Peridot. I’ll take it from here,” said an unknown voice.

 

` Suddenly, a figure appeared from behind the peridot as if they had warp pads on their feet. She was scarily tall, easily looming over the now terrified quartzes. She had a pale yellow afro, light orange skin, a light-yellow prism-shaped marking over her left eye, a sparkling dark orange cape, an orange-red jumpsuit, white gloves and white boots. She had a rectangular, red-orange gem located on her chest.

 

“Hessonite,” Skinny snarled through gritted teeth.

 

Hessonite smirked playfully. “Long time no see 4ML. I must say I wasn’t expecting you to be here of all places. But I guess this place would be suitable for a gem of your caliber.”

 

“Cut the crap and tell me the real reason you’re here. I know it’s not to get spare parts because let’s be honest; I’ve known you long enough to know that you’re too prissy to work with used equipment,” Skinny said.

 

"Honestly, did you really think that the diamonds wouldn't catch word of your little revolution?" Hessonite asked, condescendingly. "Your agate sent us the video footage of your rebellious acts from the zoo. I'm must say your escape plan was brilliant considering that it came from you and that runty, off-colored half-wit."

 

"Hey, that "half-wit" gave the agate a beatdown. So yeah, it'd be your best bet not to underestimate her," Skinny stated.

 

"That agate was from Blue Diamond's court," Hessonite said. "Honestly, with the combat training they give there, she could be defeated by a simple ruby.”

 

"Pfft, whatever," Skinny replied.

 

"That's beside the point, the diamonds sent me out here to bring you and your band of traitors back to Homeworld to face punishment. Now," Hessonite snapped her fingers and two citrine soldiers walked out from behind her, along with three rubies. "Why don't you make this easy for both us and come quietly."

  


"Hmmm, interesting offer," Skinny said summoning her spear. "But, um, I'm gonna have to go with no." Skinny got into a battle stance and pointed her spear at Hessonite.

 

"Honestly, why do you betas always have to make things hard for yourselves?" Hessonite asked, clearly not expecting an answer. "Peridot."

 

"As you wish," the peridot said. She primed the cannon on her limb enhancers and fired a super-charged blast at Skinny. Before Skinny had time to react, Ellie jumped in front her and summoned her battle-axe. "Not today!!!" she shouted as she deflected the blast with her axe. The blast was so powerful that when it hit Hessonite, it electrocuted her and her entire crew, leaving them stunned.

 

"C'mon Skinny, let's get outta here!!!" Ellie exclaimed as the two made a run for it.

 

Hessonite picked herself up off the ground and summoned her sword. "After them!!"

 

Skinny and Ellie made their way through a series of scrap piles trying to make their way back to the ship. Suddenly, a green laser beam flew past their heads. They turned around to see that Hessonite and her crew were gaining on them. Trying to think of a plan, Ellie saw what looked to be an old warship laser cannon that seemed to be stuffed with a huge pile of scrap metal.

 

“Skinny, get to the other side fast!!” Ellie shouted.

 

“What? Why?” Skinny asked.

 

“You’ll find out soon. Now go!” Ellie shouted.

 

After Skinny got past the laser cannon, Ellie swung her weapon at it, knocking it out of place and causing the scrap pile inside to fall down and block off their pursuer’s path.

 

“That oughta hold them for now. Let’s go, the ship is just up ahead,” Ellie said.

 

The two made their way through a long, winding scrap metal labyrinth before their ship finally came into view. When they came to the opened entrance they were greeted by a smiling Carnelian. “So, how did it go?” she asked, teasingly.

 

“Oh, it went great. I’m mean sure, our old friend Hessonite decided to pay us a visit, but hey, everything is A-OK,” Skinny answered, sarcastically.

 

“So, it was that bad?” Carnelian asked, smugly.

 

“Yep,” Skinny stated. “What’s with the smug face?”

 

“You’ll see in a minute, c’mon, let’s go,” Carnelian replied as they made their way onto the ship.

 

**. . .**

 

“HESSONITE!?!” Holly shouted when Skinny and Ellie told her what happened. She and a handful of the other quartzes were gathered together in the cockpit. “Out of every gem in the history of Homeworld, they sent Hessonite!?!”

 

“Yep,” Skinny said, nervously. If Holly wasn’t tied up, she would’ve shattered her by now at the mention of the legendary commander.

 

“The war hero Hessonite? The same Hessonite that single-handedly delivered a crippling blow to the Crystal Gems during a decisive battle in the war? _That_ Hessonite?” Holly asked, terrified.

 

“You got it,” Ellie asked.

 

“The very same,” Sharky affirmed.

 

“It’s over, it’s all over. We’re not gonna make it out of this alive; we’ll all be shattered,” Holly whined.

“Holly, relax. You’re gonna be fine,” Jay said.

 

“Do you honestly believe that?” Holly asked, frowning.

 

“No, but what do want me to say; we’re all screwed. I’m just trying to stay positive,” Jay said, angrily flicking the curl in her hair.

 

“Wait a minute, if Hessonite is here then why in diamonds name are we just standing here? GET THIS SHIP MOVING, YOU USELESS HUNKS OF GRANITE!!!” Holly demanded

 

That was it. That was all it took to get Jay to snap. Now she was furious. “ALRIGHT, THAT’S IT!!” she yelled. She stood up and lifted Holly out of her seat and began carrying her to the exit.

 

“W-W-What are you doing?” Holly asked, frightened by the quartzes sudden outburst.

 

“If you want to start insulting people then I might as well leave you outside and let Hessonite have at you,” Jay said, pissed off.

 

“N-N-N-N-NO, PLEASE! I'M SORRY, IT JUST SLIPPED OUT!!! I’M BEGGING YOU PLEASE DON’T LET HER SHATTER ME!!!” Holly panicked.

 

“Jay, wait!” Skinny said, running frantically after the curly-haired quartz. The large quartz stopped in her tracks. “Listen, Holly’s afraid, she doesn’t know what she’s saying. We’re all afraid of what Hessonite plans to do with us; even you.”

 

Jay just stood there and thought to herself as Skinny continued, “It’s our fault she got caught in this mess. We brought her with us so that Blue Diamond wouldn’t shatter her, but now that Hessonite’s here, Holly’s gonna get tortured before she’s shattered.”

 

Holly shuddered at the mention of that.

“Bottom line, with our current situation at hand the last thing we need to do is turn on each other,” Skinny said. “Oh, and Holly, don’t think you’re off the hook,” she added, turning to Holly.

 

Holly began to squirm nervously in Jay’s grasp.

 

“You shouldn’t’ve yelled at Jay; she was just trying to keep everybody calm, and that ain’t exactly a stress-free job. If it weren’t for her, we would be too busy panicking to find time to come up with a plan to get out of this system with our gems still intact. Oh, and let’s not forget how everyone felt about this back at the zoo. The others would’ve left you in the dust in the blink of an eye. You oughta at least be grateful that she thought about how you’d be affected by our rebellion,” Skinny said.

 

Holly thought about it for a moment and then she said, “I guess you’re right, I’m sorry, Jay.”

 

Jay smiled at the agate’s apology. “Heh, water under the bridge.” As she carried Holly back to the cockpit she spoke up. “You know Skinny, I think 8XM is really starting to rub off on you.

 

Skinny’s cheeks turned a darker shade of orange at the comment before she followed the larger gem back to the cockpit.

 

**. . .**

 

“Did you guys see that look in her eye?” Bee asked as she and the rest of the quartzes talked about what just happened.

 

“Yeah, I’ve never seen Jay like this. Even during the war, I’ve never seen her yell at someone like that,” one amethyst commented.

 

“One things for sure, Holly is basically screwed. You all saw how Jay was looking at her. She’s gonna absolutely merc Holly,” Sharky said.

 

“Gee guys, thanks for automatically assuming that I’m gonna shatter someone,” Jay quipped as she walked in, carrying Holly.

 

“Oh, you’re back. What happened out there?” Chip asked.

 

“Long story, but that’s not important. What’s important is getting as far away from this rock as possible,” Jay responded.

 

“Oooooh, yeah, about that… you see -- wait, where’s Carnelian?” Skinny asked. Her question was answered by the sound of metal clanging. “Okay, what was that?”

 

“It came from the cargo area, let’s go check it out,” 8XG said lifting Holly onto her shoulders.

 

“Okay then, lead the way Gee,” Skinny said as she and the other quartz soldiers followed 8XG to the cargo area. Approaching the entrance, they opened the hatch revealing Carnelian and the other quartzes carrying large chunks of red metal.

 

“Carnelian,” Skinny said

 

“Oh, hey guys,” Carnelian said, looking rather sheepish.

 

“Where did you get all of this?” Skinny questioned.

 

“Well,” Carnelian started.

 

**. . .**

 

(A few minutes ago)

 

Carnelian and a handful of amethyst and jaspers stood in front of the large battlecruiser as Carnelian explained her plan. “Okay, guys here’s the deal. Our ship is kinda old and let's face it; our supplies are limited.”

 

“So what are we gonna do about that?” asked 8XK, an amethyst with a gem on her forehead.

 

“It’s simple really, we’re gonna strip this ship for parts and supplies,” the small quartz replied.

 

“What? That’s impossible,” said Bee. “How are we supposed to pull that off before the owner comes back?”

 

“It’s easy. I’ll need four gems from each side to fuse together and rip off pieces of the ships while me and the remaining two gems go inside and steal some supplies,” Carnelian explained. Everyone nodded, and in a flash of bright light four gems from each side fused together and formed two giant quartz soldiers. The two remaining gems were Bee and 8XK.

 

“Alright, guys. Let’s do this,” Carnelian said as she, Bee, and 8XK made their way into the ship while the two large quartz fusions began pulling large chunks of metal off the ship’s exterior.

 

**. . .**

 

(Present time)

 

“You scrapped her ship!?!” Skinny exclaimed, shocked.

 

“Pfft, c’mon Skinny. We both know that this old Era 1 bucket of bolts won’t stand a chance against the more advanced Era 2 ships,” Carnelian said. “Besides, Homeworld already marked us as rebels, so we might as well live up to the title.”

 

“Okay, I guess that makes sense,” Skinny replied

 

“Also, on the bright side, we managed to get the hyperdrive core you were looking for,” explained the tiny soldier.

 

“Woah, really?” Skinny asked, surprised.

 

“Yeah, I mean why go for a used one when you can get one from a brand new ship?” Carnelian explained. After listening to their conversation for while, Holly decided to speak up, “There’s still one problem. Engineering is a peridot’s line of work; so how are we gonna install that hyperdrive core without the assistance of a peridot?”

 

“That’s where Jay comes in,” Carnelian said.

 

“I’m already on it,” Jay replied carrying the hyperdrive core to the engine room.

 

Holly raised an eyebrow. “Um, can someone explain what you lot are planning?”

 

“Oh, yeah, Jay picked up a knack for engineering, like, uh… how long ago was it?” Skinny asked.

 

“5336 Earth years ago,” clarified Bee.

 

“Really?” Holly asked, curiously.

 

“Yeah, she’s pretty skilled with technology,” Carnelian added, shocking the agate. “I don’t know why you’re surprised. I mean, what else were we supposed to do when you weren’t bossing us around? Plus, it came in pretty handy when the whole ‘revolution’ thing came along. I mean, did you not notice the power outage?”

 

“I did, but I just thought it was because one of you destroyed the main power generator,” Holly explained.

 

“What? No. Jay put in a code into the generator that disabled all the power in the zoo for ten minutes. That way the power would be back online before the humans woke up. You didn’t think we were gonna leave them to die, did you, Holly? Carnelian asked.

 

“Well, yes,” she replied, with a tinge of guilt.

 

“Sheesh, Holly. Those humans came from the same planet as us. We’re soldiers, not savages,” the small gem explained. At that moment, Jay came out of the engine room wiping the sweat off her forehead. “Okay guys, the hyperdrive core is installed and, thankfully, it has enough energy to get us just about anywhere in the range of the empire.”

 

“Sweet. Alright everyone let’s get this ship back in the air,” Skinny said.

 

“Wait, one question, how did Jay learn how to do all that stuff you just said?” asked Holly.

 

“Oh, she was friends with a peridot during the war,” Carnelian explained.

 

“Seriously?” Holly asked.

 

“Yeah, her designation Facet 4O-2N Cut M61” Carnelian explained “Buuut, Jay just called her Ivy. She and Jay came up with this arrangement where she would teach Jay about everything relating to technology and Jay, in return, would teach her how to fight so she could defend herself.”

 

“A peridot, on the battlefield? Oh, that must’ve been something,” Holly said, chuckling to herself at the thought.

 

“Hey, Ivy made some real progress in her training. In fact, she could almost definitely take you in a fight,” Skinny said. “Although, considering me and Carnie were able to overpower you without any problems…”

 

“Don’t say it,” Holly interrupted, annoyed as she and the other quartzes made their way back to the cockpit.

 

(Meanwhile)

 

“WELL, WHERE ARE THOSE DIAMOND-FORSAKEN QUARTZES NOW!?!” Hessonite shouted on her communicator. She was watching as her crew searched the whole entire area. The citrines were climbing over large scrap piles and lifting large pieces of metal in search of Skinny and Ellie, the rubies were crawling through the small tunnels made by huge, rusted fuel and resource ducts looking for any signs of where the ship of the band of rebellious betas and primes may be hiding. Meanwhile on the other end of the communicator, Hessonite’s second-in-command, Peridot X94, was back at the ship (well, what remained of it after those insolent rebels snuck away with quite a few of the vital parts of the ship), scanning the area for signs of the rebels on her personal radar.

 

“My deepest apologies, commander, but I can’t pick up any trace of them or their ship. It’s almost like something’s hiding it from my scans.

  


(A few hours ago)

 

Carnelian entered the ship’s engine room. “Alright, Jay. Holly’s tied up and secured in the holding cells.” It was then that she noticed that Jay was working on a strange looking device. “What are you doing?”

 

“I’m trying to make something that, when a radar hits our ship, it’ll move the ship’s icon to a completely random direction. Hopefully, somewhere outside the seeking radar’s range. It should keep our ship from being properly located.” Jay explained.

 

“Wow, that’s actually pretty cool,” Carnelian said.

  


(Present Day)

 

“I’ll try to update you on their whereabouts as soon as I can,” the peridot said.

 

“Very well,” Hessonite said, deactivating her communicator. “Those quartzes have to be around here somewhere; they couldn’t have just disappeared.”

 

Suddenly, one of her citrine guards called out, “Commander Hessonite!!! We have an emergency!!!” It was at that moment that a loud roaring sound filled the air. One of the rubies came down from one of the scrap piles. “Commander we’ve located their ship; it’s about to take off.”

 

Suddenly, a large, pink ship rose into the air.

 

“Everyone back to the ship!!!” Hessonite commanded.

 

“That’s the emergency, they destroyed it,” the citrine guard explained, pointing to it.

 

“WHAT!?!” Hessonite exclaimed. “Looking to where the citrine pointed, she saw that her ship had large holes where chunks of metal have been ripped off and exposed wiring where vital technology was removed. Hessonite looked up and glared at the Famethyst ship as it exited the atmosphere.

 

 _“Well played, Earthlings,”_ She thought to herself _“But, a good commander always comes prepared.”_ She pulled out an orange tablet and, after inputting a command code, a large, orange ship in the shape of an upside-down pyramid descended upon the planet’s surface.

 

She smirked. “Let the games begin.”

 

(Meanwhile in hyperspace)

 

“Woooo!!! Yeah, Famethyst for life!!!” Carnelian shouted. She and the other quartzes were celebrating their victory against Hessonite.

 

“We’re home free!!” 8XG exclaimed.

 

“Okay, guys. I’ve set the coordinates for Earth and, according to the ship’s calculations, Earth’s 0.5 light years away,” Skinny said.

 

“How long is that?” Bee asked.

 

“Twelve hours from now,” Skinny answer.

 

“I can work with that,” Bee replied

 

Soon, all the other quartzes were in the cockpit talking about the things they’ll  do once they get to Earth and a few of them were debating on who gets to tell Amethyst the story of their revolution. Meanwhile, Ellie approached Skinny smiling. “You were right Skinny; it really was worth the risk,” She said before she joined the others. Skinny smiled at the larger quartzes comment, but then her expression saddened when she saw Holly. The agate had a look of discomfort and you can’t actually blame her. After all, she’s been on Homeworld her whole life and they’ve basically forced her to come with them. “Calm down, Holly. We’ll untie you once we get to Earth,” Skinny said. “But, hey, in the meantime why don’t you take the seat next to me; you can be co-pilot.”

 

“Really?” Holly asked, secretly hopeful.

 

“Yeah, Holly, come on,” Carnelian said, lifting the agate over her head and placing her in the seat next to Skinny.

 

Holly was shocked but she smiled as the ship made its way through hyperspace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: It was a long and risky journey but that did little to weaken their spirits. Good job, Carnelian. Looks like the Famethyst made it and it looks like the Diamonds sent the most dangerous gem in their armada to capture them. Let’s hope they don’t run into her anytime soon. Anyways, next time, Connie has a personal conversation with the newest recruit, Amethyst discovers something new about herself, and a familiar face is haunted by the recent events in the Beta Kindergarten. Find out in the next chapter.
> 
> Credit goes to:
> 
> Spuddrington Tatortot for help with the editing
> 
> Sapphy Hibernis for allowing us to reference Ellie and Bee. Go check out his story Famethyst Adventures on Archive of Our Own
> 
>  
> 
> Also, guys, we’ve decided to change Ivy’s gem number to something more canon-friendly so, yeah. And try to guess who that peridot was. That’s all, for now, guys, bye. ;)
> 
>  
> 
> E/N: OOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!  
> It begins! First time formally editing a story.
> 
> Hope you guys had fun reading this. I can assure you I had a lot of fun nitpicking, and I'm fairly certain Doc's had a great time writing.  
> We've been picking off of Sapphy for character naming ideas. But Doc and I have been working on keeping the characters true to form (had a bit of trouble with keeping Jay in character _with what little character was provided canonically_ in the scene when Jay got ticked off).
> 
> Anywhoo, see y'all in the next chapter! Hope you like what's to come! ;)


	6. Ballad of Ocean Jasper Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the gems adventure continues, Amethyst comes in touch with more of her diamond side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Okay, this chapter was so long I decided to split it into two parts; I'm currently working on the second part but this part is ready so, I hope you enjoy.

Once they warped in front of Rose's Fountain, Steven and Amethyst made their way to the entryway. Followed by Lapis, Peridot, Pumpkin, and Padparadscha.

"Oh, how lovely," Padparadscha said. "What is this place?"

 

"This is Rose's Fountain," said Amethyst. "During the war, if one her teammates get hurt really bad, she'd take them here and heal them in her fountain. It’s got her healing tears, so it acts as a healing station or whatever."

 

After a moment’s pause, Padparadscha replied, "Rose Quartz must've been a very special gem."

 

Steven's expression turned solemn at this statement. "Yeah, I guess you could say that," he said nervously scratching his head.

 

Noticing her friends discomfort, Connie quickly changed the subject. "So, Steven, Pearl told me that you discovered a new power.”

 

“Oh yeah, she says it’s called “Gem Senses” it allows me to sense a threat before it happens and know how to avoid it in the best way possible,” Steven explained.

 

“Nice, dude. That came in handy when I was with Rose. I remember one time when I fell off the Temple Statue’s hand and she caught me before I landed on my face,” Amethyst explained.

 

“What were you doing on the Statue hand?” Steven asked.

 

“I was planning on dog-piling on the mailman,” Amethyst explained, chuckling.

 

“Right, anyways guys, let’s do this,” Steven said as he the others entered the sanctuary where Roses Fountain stood directly in the middle of the whole area.

 

“My goodness!” Padparadscha exclaimed.

 

“Incredible…” marveled Peridot.

 

“The water’s pink,” Lapis said, simply.

 

Peridot walked up to the fountain holding up her Gem-Pad. “This is incredibly intriguing. A healing fluid flowing through the statue from an unknown reservoir,” She said, scanning the water. “Yes!!! According to these scans, this Gem-based healing solution will be exactly what we need to create the cure for corruption. Now, I just need to run a diagnostic and --- GYAHH!!” Peridot was cut off by Pumpkin knocking her over and jumping into the fountain. 

 

“Arf, Arf!!!” Pumpkin barked happily as she splashed around in the pink water.

 

“Pumpkin, get out of there!! You’re gonna contaminate it!!” Peridot cried as she wrestled to get the vegetable out of the fountain. Meanwhile, Lapis and Amethyst laughed at the green gem’s misfortune as she and Steven tried to coax Pumpkin out of the water.

 

While they were doing this, Padparadscha noticed that Connie didn’t follow them inside. Walking back to the entrance, she found the girl leaning next to the wall with a distant look on her face. 

 

“Is something wrong?” Padparadscha asked.

 

“YAH!” Connie yelped, startled by the sapphire’s presence. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

 

Padparadscha waited five seconds before she responded, “You seemed upset; is something bothering you?”

 

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Connie said.

 

“Connie, we’re both Crystal Gem’s. If something is bothering you then you need to tell us. We’re a team,” the defective sapphire said.

 

Connie thought about this and then she sighed. “When Steven gave himself up to Aquamarine, I panicked. I was really worried about what the diamonds were gonna do to him. I thought that I’d never see him again.”

 

“Steven told me that you two had a huge argument when he came back,” Padparadscha said.

 

“I didn’t know what I was feeling. Part of me was mad that he just gave up like that and another part of me was grateful that he’s still alive,” Connie said. “But, a huge part of me wishes that….“

 

“You could’ve done more to stop this from happening,” Padparadscha said, finishing her sentence. She remembered thinking the exact same thing when the other Off-Colors sent her to Earth through Lars’s portal hair. She could still remember seeing Rhodonite’s look of fear when the Rutiles warned them about the quartz soldiers entering the Kindergarten

 

“Yeah, I mean maybe if I had just stayed on the ship we could’ve fused and taken down Aquamarine,” Connie said.

 

Padparadscha processed all this for a few seconds before she asked, “Why did Steven sacrifice himself?”

 

“Because, Aquamarine had us in her grasp and he thought that it was the only way to save everyone,” Connie explained.

 

Padparadscha waited for a moment and then she asked, “And that’s it? There’s no other reason?”

 

Connie’s expression saddened at this statement. “Steven’s mom did some bad things during the war and since she’s not around, Steven thinks that he has to answer for her crimes.”

 

“And you don’t think he should?” Padparadscha asked.

 

“No, he’s innocent. He doesn’t deserve to suffer for crimes he didn’t commit and if he has to answer for every one of his mother’s sins, then he shouldn’t have to go through it alone,” Connie replied.

 

“Then tell him,” the sapphire said.

 

“What?” Connie asked.

 

“Let him know that he doesn’t have to bare the burden of his mother’s actions and that when the time comes, you to will work through this together,” Padparadscha replied.

 

“Okay, I will,” Connie said, smiling. She then pulled the sapphire into a hug. “Thanks, Paddy.”

 

The defective sapphire waited for a moment but then she smiled and returned the hug. “It was a pleasure.”

 

(Meanwhile, somewhere in space)

 

“I’ve got you right where I want you, Off-Color scum,” Emerald spat smiling deviously on the communicator screen. Emerald had the Sun Incinerator surrounded by large, green hand ships ready to fire. “Your time is up.”

 

As the hand ships primed their cannons the Rutile Twins whispered to Lars, “Should we do it now?”

 

“No, not yet,” he whispered back.

 

“You were an admirable adversary, but I’m afraid it all ends here,” Emerald sneered as the index finger on the hand ships began giving off a bright glow as the cannons built up energy.

 

“Um, Lars, I think we should go now; those cannons are reaching maximum charge,” Rhodonite whispered, terrified.

 

“Not yet,” Lars replied.

 

Energy bolts surged from the cannons as the hand ships took their aim. 

 

“Should….we….act….now?” Fluorite asked.

 

“Wait for it,” Lars replied, the adrenaline setting him more and more on edge with every eternity-long second that passed.

 

“Any last words?” Emerald asked Lars as the cannons prepared to fire.

 

“Two words,” he replied, smirking, raising his trademark cheesy finger guns. “Bingo-Bongo.”

 

“What?” asked Emerald, confused.

 

“NOW!!” Lars shouted. The Rutiles pressed a button, suddenly tilting the Sun Incinerator backwards as its engines went on at full blast, launching the ship into hyperspace, leaving the hand ships with six new targets: each other. They opened fire on and destroyed each other.

 

“GYAAAH!!! Curses!!! You win this one, Off-Colors, but mark my words; this isn’t the last you’ve seen of me,” Emerald hissed as the transmission ended.

 

“Yes, we did it! Victory is ours!” the Rutiles chorused.

 

“Well….done….everyone,” Fluorite said.

 

“You guys, that was awesome. Did you see the look on her face? That was priceless!” Lars said, chuckling. “Not to mention all the cargo that we managed to smuggle off the planet.”

 

“Yeah, that’s great,” Rhodonite said, an obvious hint of despair in her voice.

 

Lars instantly caught on to what the fusion was thinking. “Still, worried about her, Rhody?” Lars asked.

 

“Lars, I need to know: Did we make the right call sending Padparadscha to Earth?” Rhodonite asked. 

 

“Yes, you wanted to keep her out of harm's way and so you did,” Lars answered.

 

“But is she safe?” the fusion asked.

 

“Of course, the gem’s on Earth will protect her, she’ll be fine. Trust me, Rhody, you made the right call,” Lars said, giving the fusion a comforting smile.

 

Rhodonite smiled back. “I’ll take your word for it.”

 

(A few hours later)

 

Lars sat in what was now his living quarters, wondering what his friends and family were doing back on Earth and reminiscing over the good times when he was rudely interrupted by a knock on his door. Getting up, he opened the door to find no one standing there.

 

“Hello?” Lars said, raising an eyebrow. Just as he stepped out of the room, he was grabbed from behind.

 

“W-Whoa!” Lars said as a large yellow hand came out of nowhere and covered his mouth. He turned around only to find, to his shock, his old captor, Topaz, with a remorseful expression.

 

“I’m sorry, she’s making me do this,” Topaz almost whimpered as she carried the pink human down the hallway to the ships docking area, where a familiar dome-shaped ship was stationed. Once there, she placed him the corner with the other Off-Colors.

 

“Is that all of them?” asked a voice with a familiar British accent.

 

“Yes,” Topaz answered, hiding her emotions again behind a serious expression.

 

“Good,” the voice replied as a small, blue gem with fluid wings exited the dome-shaped ship.

 

Lars glared. “Aquamarine.”

 

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Lars,” Aquamarine said, smugly.

 

“And if it isn’t the Blue Dora Butterfly,” Lars spat back.

 

Aquamarine, completely confused by Lars’s reference to some obscure Earth culture, decided to continue. “I see you have a new look; is it a human thing?”

 

“That’s something I’d rather not tell to a two-year-old toddler with a tantrum problem,” Lars said.

 

Aquamarine read enough files from the human zoo to know the meaning of Lars’s terminology. “I’m not a baby, I’m three hundred years old!!!”

 

“More like three hundred hours old,” Lars said, smirking.

 

“Ugh, this is getting us nowhere,” Aquamarine huffed, annoyed. “The Diamonds have sent every Shatter Robonoid in their arsenal into that worn out Kindergarten looking for Rose Quartz and now they’re sending me and after reading a few reports about your sightings on other planets, I figured the best way to find her would be you.”

 

“No way, there is no chance that I’m gonna-”

 

“He escaped backed to Earth,” Rhodonite interrupted.

 

Lars, Rutile, and Fluorite glared at her.

 

“Sorry, I panicked,” Rhodonite said, blushing.

 

“Well now, that wasn’t so hard. Now tell me, where is her base located?” Aquamarine demanded.

 

“What are you gonna do if I don’t? Is da widdle babee gonna thwow a tantwum?” Lars teased.

 

“I’M NOT A BABY!!!” Aquamarine shouted back indignantly.

 

“Look, guys, Baby Smurf’s gonna cry,” Lars said, mockingly. This got the Off-Colors to laugh, despite the fact that they were being held captive and they had no idea what a “Smurf” was.

 

“It’s official, I hate humans,” Aquamarine said, blushing in embarrassment. “Fine, I can go find it on my own. Topaz, keep an eye on them; we’ll need them as leverage.” Aquamarine flew to the ship’s cockpit grumbling.

 

After she flew off, Topaz stared at the group with an apologetic look. “Please forgive me, she threatened to have us shattered if we-”

 

Fluorite held up her hand, cutting off the yellow gem. “It’s….alright. As….a….fellow….fusion….I….understand.”

 

Topaz smiled. “Thank you.”

 

(Back on Earth)

 

“Well, I’d say this mission was a success,” Peridot stated proudly holding a bottle filled with healing tears. After hours of trying to get Pumpkin out of the fountain, Peridot finally managed to get enough healing tears needed to create the cure. As the group exited the sanctuary, they met up with Padparadscha and Connie.

“Where have you two been?” Peridot asked.

 

“Oh, I was just, um, giving Paddy an official welcome into the team,” Connie said, nervously.

 

“Aww, Connie, that’s very nice of you,” Steven said, smiling.

 

“Yep, anyway where to now?” Connie asked.

 

“Well, now we gotta head to the Beta Kindergarten to locate the Ocean Jasper,” Peridot explained. “Her corrupted DNA will be vital in creating the cure.”

 

Steven hummed in agreement. The team made their way back to the warp pad. Along the way, Connie though back to her conversation with Padparadscha.  _ “Tell him.”  _ The sapphire’s words rang at the back of her head. Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by Steven’s voice.

 

“Oh, hold on a second guys,” Steven said, turning towards her. “Connie there’s something I want to talk to you about.”

 

_ “God, does he have mind-reading powers too,”  _ she thought to herself. Taking a deep breath, she spoke back. “Sure, Steven. Can we talk in private?”

 

Steven nodded and the two walked away from the group. Meanwhile, Amethyst pulled Padparadscha over to her.

 

“Did you set this up, Paddy?” she asked.

 

After a ten second pause, the sapphire simply smiled and replied, “Nope.”

 

**. . .**

 

“Okay, so what did you want to talk about?” Connie asked.

Steven tensed up for a moment, but then he spoke, “Connie, listen. I know you weren’t happy that I just gave myself up, but you have to understand; someone had to answer for my mom's crimes.”

 

"But why’d it have to be you?” She asked, frustrated.

 

"I have her gem," Steven said. "Think about what's happened so far: Jasper got corrupted, Bismuth was betrayed twice, and Eyeball was thrown into space. All because they thought I was my mom. It's safe to say that I don't have a choice in this."

 

"I know that Steven. But, when you sacrificed yourself, you did have a choice," Connie argued back.

 

"That was different, I gave Peridot the list of human names and the Diamonds gave it to Aquamarine. I had to fix my mistakes,” Steven said. “I’m sorry Connie, but if another gem comes and they think I’m Rose Quartz then I really won’t have any other choice.”

 

“If this is how it has to be, then, can you promise one thing?” Connie asked.

 

“What’s that?” Steven asked.

 

“If you’re going to keep answering for your mom’s crimes, then let me help you,” Connie said. “Steven we’re a team; we’re supposed to have each others backs. If one of us makes a mistake then we need to work together to fix it.”

 

“I guess I never thought of it that way,” Steven said.

 

Connie smiled warmly and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Promise me that from now on we’ll work through this together.”

 

Steven smiled back. “I promise.”

 

The two came together for a hug. After a few seconds, they both giggled as Steven lifted Connie into the air and began twirling her around. Suddenly, Steven’s gem glowed and their bodies were shrouded in light and in a bright flash the two bodies became one. 

 

**. . .**

 

After waiting for what felt like hours, the team was greeted by a bright flash. Turning their attention to the source, the light faded revealing a tall woman with long, brown, curly hair, tanned skin, and a pink gem on her navel.

 

“Stevonnie! How’s it been?” Amethyst shouted, joyfully

 

“Never enough fusion’s on this planet, are there?” Peridot snidely remarked.

 

“Heh, hey guys,” the fusion chuckled, flashing a somewhat crooked smile.

 

“Amethyst, who's that?” Lapis asked, thoroughly confused.

 

“Oh, yeah, I forgot you guys haven’t officially met,” Amethyst said. “This is Stevonnie, Steven and Connie’s fusion.”

“A human-gem fusion? That should be impossible,” Periost stated, despite the opposing evidence staring her in the face.

 

“This is Steven were talking about, P-dot. His existence should be impossible,” Amethyst reasoned.

 

“Fair enough,” Peridot replied. 

Suddenly, Stevonnie was tackled by a furry, pink blur. She looked up to face Lion. “Lion, what are you --- AHAHAHAHAHA!!!” The fusion laughed as Lion started licking her face. “AHAHA-LION-HAHAHA-STOP!!!”

 

Lion simply ignored her as continued his show of affection.

 

“Okay, that’s cute,” Amethyst said, giggling.

 

“Yeah,” Lapis replied.

 

“AWW, COME ON, YOU TOO PUMPKIN!?!” Stevonnie said giggling as the little vegetable joined in.

 

After what felt like forever, the two finally let Stevonnie get back up. “Wow, Lion’s never been this affectionate.”

 

“Hehe, maybe he’s happy that you two finally made up. I guess he’s decided to come with us,” Amethyst said as the feline nuzzled the fusion’s leg. “Anyways, what did you guys talk about?”

 

“Well, let’s just say; we worked things out,” Stevonnie answered.

 

“Sweet, alright dudes, let’s go,” Amethyst said as they made their way back to the warp pad.

 

“A human-gem fusion? Oh, how extraordinary!!” Padparadscha exclaimed.

 

The whole team giggled as they were enveloped by the warp stream.

 

**. . .**

 

“Dude, this place gets creepier everytime we come here,” Amethyst said as the team warped into the Beta Kindergarten. “Hey, Paddy, what’s your opinion.”

 

After waiting for a moment, the sapphire spoke, “It’s as if they didn’t even try; most of the exit holes have absolutely no space between each other, and it looks like each gem’s incubation was rushed.”

 

“That’s because it was,” Peridot clarified. “You see, Padparadscha, halfway through the Rebellion, Homeworld was desperate to get more soldiers on the ground to defend against Rose Quartz’s army. So, the diamonds rushed the creation of the whole Kindergarten and, as a result, the gems that emerged usually came out defective, half-formed, or completely disfigured.”

 

“Hold on, Peri. When I was at the human zoo, I didn’t see any Beta gems that were disfigured,” Amethyst explained.

 

“That’s because the Kindergarten Control Room can detect when a disfigured gem is about to emerge and sends out a signal that aborts it’s incubation before it emerges,” she explained.

 

Amethyst’s eyes widened and she instinctively placed a hand on her gem. “If that’s the case, then why didn’t it happen to me?”

 

“That’s because you were technically not disfigured. The scanners mark you as disfigured only if you’re about to emerge with missing or unorganized limbs,” Peridot replied. “And you weren’t even about to emerge, so the control room didn’t so much as give you the time of day.”

 

“Oh, I guess that makes--” Amethyst was suddenly cut off by a tingling sensation in her head.

 

As if by instinct, she lifted Stevonnie and Padparadscha onto her shoulders and ran at break-neck speed to the other side of the canyon, leaving behind a sand trail.

 

“What are they running from--EEP!!!” Peridot exclaimed jumping into Lapis’s arms as an injector crashed right into the spot where Stevonnie and Padparadscha were once standing.

Lapis raised an eyebrow. “How did you know that was gonna happen?”

 

“More importantly, how are you able to run faster than the speed of light?” Peridot asked. 

“Well, I had this weird tingling sensation in my head and then I had this feeling that--”

 

“Something bad was gonna happen,” Amethyst and Stevonnie finished together.

 

“Amethyst, you have Gem Senses, too!” Stevonnie said, excitedly.

 

“Hehe, sweet. Hey, wait, if you and I both have Gem Senses then how come you didn’t react to that Injector heading towards you?” Amethyst asked.

 

“That’s because Stevonnie was out of range,” Peridot explained. “You see the threat has to be within a certain distance of the gem in order to be detected, with the range varying from gem to gem.”

 

“Okay, I guess that’d make  _ sense _ … Eh? Eh?” Stevonnie joked.

 

“Hehehe… *Ahem* Yes, but what doesn’t make sense is the fact that you  _ have  _ this ability in the first place,” the green gem said.

 

“What do you mean?” asked Amethyst.

 

“Most quartzes don’t have Gem Senses. Such an ability is exclusive to era-1 Rose Quartzes,” Peridot explained.

 

“Well, what can I say? Maybe there was an accident when my gem was being created,” Amethyst replied.

 

“That is hardly a possibility. You were running at speeds that would rival a sapphire. Not to mention, you’ve never experienced these supergem abilities up until just this morning,” said Peridot. “Do you have any clues as to how you’re gaining these new abilities?”

 

Amethyst thought about it for a second and then it hit her. “Steven! The dream!”

 

“Wait, it was real?!” Steven responded from the fusion’s mouth.

 

“What are you two talking about?” Peridot asked, completely lost.

 

Stevonnie sucked in a deep breath and let out a sigh. “Peridot, you know how there used to be four diamonds that ruled over homeworld?”

 

Peridot, now beginning to get an idea of what they were talking about, raised her eyebrows. “Yes… Why? Does this have something to do with Pink Diamond?”

 

“...yeah.” Amethyst cut Stevonnie off. “Last night, Steven and I had this …  weird dream. We woke up in the Kindergarten together, and saw this big dome-shaped building. Then, we hear a voice behind us, and Pink Diamond is standing there!”

 

“PINK DIAMOND?! That’s impossible!” Peridot objected. “Pink Diamond was shattered over five thousand years ago!!”

 

“I would’ve said the same thing,” Amethyst countered, “but she was apparently able to keep her consciousness together through telepathy.”

 

“So, If I understand correctly, you and Steven spoke to a DIAMOND!?!” Peridot exclaimed.

 

“Yep,” Stevonnie said, nervously scratching the back of her head.

 

“Pretty much,” Amethyst admitted, casually.

“OH, MY STARS!!!” Peridot exclaimed, nearly fainting. But before she falls over, Peridot catches herself and rushes towards them.

 

“Peridot, relax, we’re--” Stevonnie’s sentence was cut short by Peridot pushing past her and walking towards Amethyst.

 

“Amethyst, are you okay?” Peridot asked grabbing the purple gem’s cheeks and turning her head left to right. “She didn’t try to probe you, did she?”

 

“Hey, I’m okay too, Peridot. Thanks for asking,” Stevonnie said, indignantly.

 

“Peri, I’m fine. Really, you don’t have to-” Amethyst was cut off as a bright green light shined from Peridot’s gem.

 

“Do you feel any different? Do you feel any urge to attack one of us?” Peridot asked, worriedly.

 

“No, not really. It'll probably stay that way if you get your hands off my face,” she replied as she grabbed the green gem’s hands and removed them from her face.

The moment Amethyst’s hands made contact with hers, Peridot entered a lovestruck trance as fireworks shot through her entire body.  _ “Oh my stars, she holding my hand. Her palms are so soft,”  _ Peridot thought to herself.

 

“Hello, Peridot? Seriously, this is the third time you did this,” Amethyst said, waving her hand in the green gem’s face.  

 

Peridot snapped out of her lovestruck stupor, her face taking on a dark shade of green.  _ “Oh, stars. Not again.”  _ she thought to herself. “R-R-Right, sorry, I spaced out. Anyways, sorry about the whole interrogation thing; I just wanted to make sure that my um… friend was safe after a first encounter with a Diamond.” Peridot’s face was absolutely glowing by now.

 

Stevonnie and Amethyst were both confused by their friend’s strange behavior; when suddenly, both of their Gem Senses started tingling. They both looked up just in time to see an Injector fall off the edge of the cliff; about to land right on them. Gem Senses overtaking her, Amethyst grabbed her companions and rushed them to safety at Formula 1 race car speeds, just as the Injector crashed into where they were last standing.

 

“Okay, something tells me these Injectors aren’t falling on their own,” Stevonnie said.

 

“And you guessed correctly,” Peridot said examining the Injector. “Considering the fact that there was no wind blowing and the large dent in the side of it, I’d say that someone or something charged right into it; causing it to fall down.”

 

After hearing the small technical gem’s explanation, Stevonnie summoned her shield and pulled her sword out of her scabbard. “Lion, come!”

 

Immediately, the large feline approached their master’s side.

 

“Woah, Lion never responded to commands,” Steven spoke through Stevonnie.

 

“Well, while you were on Homeworld, I thought it would be necessary to train him to follow simple commands,” Stevonnie replied back to themselves from Connie’s thoughts.

 

“Okay, can you two please not converse with each other while you’re still fused. It’s a bizarre spectacle to behold from an outside perspective,” Peridot said, disturbed. “Anyways, back to the mission at hand. Lapis, I’ll need you and Pumpkin search for the Ocean Jasper from the air; we’ll search from down here.”

 

“On it,” The blue gem said, scooping up Pumpkin and flying off.

 

“AMETHYST, LOOK OUT!” Padparadscha shouted, unprovoked. “AN INJECTOR IS ABOUT TO FALL!”

 

“Dang, Paddy, you were so quiet I forgot you were there. Anyways, calm down, we’re all safe,” Amethyst said putting a hand on the sapphires shoulder.

 

“Ahem, now then, Stevonnie. When we find the Ocean Jasper, You’ll need this to extract a sample,” Peridot said handing her a strange looking device. The device was shaped like a blaster; it had a metal suction cup at the front of it and a glass container at the back of it.

 

“What’s that, Peri, an automatic toilet plunger?” Amethyst said, laughing at her own jab.

 

“No, it is a Hard Light Analyzer,” she replied. “I found it while I was tinkering with my old escape pod.”

 

“What does it do?” the fusion asked.

 

“Simple, just place the dome on any part of the gem’s body, press the trigger and it’ll scan the gem’s body and read the gemetic code imprinted on the hard light epidermis,” Peridot explained. Seeing her companion’s confused faces, she explained “Place the dome on the skin and it’ll scan the gemetic code on it. Now then let’s go find this corrupted gem.”

 

Peridot activated her tablet’s gem detector and she led the team into the Beta Kindergarten.

 

(A few hours later, at dusk)

 

The sun was now setting, plunging the Beta Kindergarten into the darkness of night. The group had been searching for hours and so far, they haven’t caught on sight of the Ocean Jasper.

 

“Okay, Peri. Not that I’m having doubts about your little device; but, we’ve been searching for hours and it’s already night,” Amethyst said.

 

“I don’t understand, the Gem-Pad’s gem detector says that the Ocean Jasper is right here,” she replied. “Hey, Lapis, can you see anything from up there?”

 

“Nope,” the blue gem responded from above holding a sleeping Pumpkin.

 

“That’s okay; just come back down,” Peridot said as Lapis descended.

 

“Peridot? I have a question,” said Padparadscha.

 

“Sure, what is it?” Peridot asked.

 

After a five second delay, the sapphire pointed towards a very familiar, large exit hole and asked, “Who came out of that hole?”

 

Everyone immediately recognized the exit hole.

 

“T-T-That’s J-Jasper’s hole,” Peridot replied.

 

Lapis shuddered at the mention of Jasper and Stevonnie and Amethyst had saddened expressions.

 

“Why is everyone acting so strangely; is there something important about this Jasper?” Padparadscha asked.

 

“Well, Paddy, have you heard of the Ultimate Quartz?” Stevonnie asked.

 

“Why, yes. During the war, I overheard stories about a quartz soldier who single-handedly, took out eighty Crystal Gems as soon as she emerged,” the sapphire explained.

 

After a deep sigh, Stevonnie spoke, “Well… Say hello to the exit hole of the Quartz That Could.”

 

Padparadscha wait five seconds before she spoke, “Oh my stars!! You surely must be joking!”

 

“Yep,” the fusion replied.

 

“Oh, my,” the sapphire said. “But, wait, how come you all seemed scared when I mentioned her?”

 

“Well, Jasper put us through a lot, Paddy,” Amethyst explained. “You see, when Peridot came to Earth to check on the Cluster, she brought Lapis as an informant and Jasper as an escort. When Jasper saw Steven summoning Rose’s Shield, she immediately thought that Steven was Rose. Then, she was relentless in trying to kill us; she headbutted Steven in the face and gave him a black eye, she split Garnet in half --”

 

“Garnet?” Padparadscha asked.

 

“She’s a fusion between a ruby and a sapphire, she’s also pretty much our leader,” Stevonnie explained.

 

The sapphire was intrigued by this.

 

“Anyways, when Garnet defeated her on the ship, she forced Lapis into a toxic fusion called Malachite; but, Lapis saved us by tricking Jasper and dragging their fusion into the ocean where they both spent months fighting for control of the fusion.” the fusion said.

 

After ten seconds, Padparadscha turned to Lapis and said, “What you did was very brave; I respect you for that.”

 

The blue gem blushed at the sudden attention. “Oh, uh, thanks.”

 

Stevonnie and Amethyst told the sapphire about the period that Jasper had stalked Lapis after unfusing and tried to force her into fusing again, the time that Jasper relentlessly beat two corrupted quartzes into submission, and how Jasper had all but crushed Amethyst during their battle on the beach. 

 

“Man, Jasper probably would’ve shattered me then and there if it weren’t for Stevonnie,” Amethyst explained. “But, everything she said really got to me; she made me feel like I was weak cuz I was defective and, for a while, I thought that I could never be what a quartz soldier needed to be.” After hearing this, Stevonnie placed a comforting hand on the quartzes shoulder.

 

“Hey, relax, dude,” Amethyst said nudging away the fusion’s hand. “I’m over it. Anyways, long story short, Jasper tried to create an army of corrupted gem monsters that she captured and me and Steven had to fuse to stop her. But, Jasper didn’t want a repeat of the beach battle; so she fused with one of the corrupted gems, the Ocean Jasper, as a last-ditch effort to finally beat us. Unfortunately for her, we beat ‘em; but when they unfused, Jasper got corrupted herself and in the end, Peridot had to poof her before she could do anything to hurt us or herself more than she already had.” ,

 

After a short pause, Padparadscha’s face shifted to a look of great sympathy and pity. “Oh, my.”

 

“Yeah, and the Ocean Jasper ran off to who knows where and she could be . . .” Amethyst’s sentence was cut short by a fuzzy feeling in her head and her vision started to become blurred.

 

“Amethyst, are you alright?” Peridot asked, worried.

 

“I don’t know; something feels off,” she replied. Suddenly, Amethyst fell on her back as her eyes went white and the scene around her began to shift. That’s when she saw her; the corrupted Ocean Jasper. The dog-shaped gem was shaking in fear inside one of the exit holes in the caged area of the Beta Kindergarten. 

 

_ “She looks so terrified; what happened to her?”  _ Amethyst thought.

 

Ocean Jasper started growling incoherently until, without warning, her growls began to sound like an attempt at speech. After some struggling, the gem uttered the words, “MA-MALA-CHITE!!”

 

Amethyst’s eyes widened, “What?!?”

 

Then everything went dark.

 

**. . .**

 

“AMETHYST?!?”

 

Her teammates voices brought her back to reality.

 

“Guys, I saw her,” she said.

 

“Saw who, was it Pink Diamond again?” Peridot asked.

 

“No, the Ocean Jasper,” Amethyst clarified.

 

“Really?” Stevonnie asked.

 

“Yeah, she’s in that part of the Beta kindergarten where Jasper kept her and the other gem monsters prisoner,” Amethyst explained.

 

“Okay, we’ll ask how you figured that out later; but right now, we gotta get a move on,” Stevonnie said as the team made their way to Ocean Jasper. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Okay guys in the next chapter we’ll find out what happened to Ivy and who was that gem that was spying on Amethyst in the Prime Kindergarten. We’ll also get to see what’s going on with Ocean Jasper. Until next time guys, bye.
> 
> Credit to:
> 
> Spuddrington Tatortot for help with the editing.


	7. Ballad of Ocean Jasper Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gems find Ocean Jasper and make a huge discovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Big announcement at the end of this chapter.

The gem's entered the prison area of the Beta Kindergarten, where they spread out to look for any signs of Ocean Jasper.

 

“Is she here, Peridot?” Stevonnie asked.

 

“Affirmative, the gem radar is detecting higher amounts of light radiation in this area,” Peridot replied. “Amethyst’s claim was correct.”

 

“Nice,” Amethyst said.

 

“But, that raises another question,” Peridot explained. “How is Amethyst gaining all these new abilities?”

 

“Well, Steven thinks it has something to do with this,” Stevonnie said pulling out Steven’s phone and showing the green gem a picture of the abandoned building in the Prime Kindergarten.

 

“Oh, my stars, Stevonnie that’s a Geo-Lab,” Peridot’s voice fell to an excited whisper.

 

“A what?” the fusion asked, confused.

 

“Well, you see, a Geo-Lab is where the real work starts,” the technician explained. “The Kindergarten incubates the gem, the Injectors inject the gem, and the Control Room monitors the gem. But, the Geo-Lab is where the gemstones are forged and at that time the gemstones are completely lifeless until they’re injected into the ground.”

 

“Okay, I think I get it,” said Stevonnie.

 

“Tell me, where did you find this place?” Peridot asked.

 

Before Stevonnie could answer, the sounds of Lion’s roar filled the whole Kindergarten.

 

“What is it, Lion?” the fusion asked.

 

The pink feline gestured towards a set of strange markings in the ground. The markings were arranged in a way that appeared to be some form of speech and they were surrounded by large paw prints.

 

“Hey, that looks like that weird gem language that the Centipeedle was writing in,” said Amethyst. “Hey, Dot, can you translate this?”

 

“Nope, this Era 1 literature was before my time,” she replied.

 

“Step aside,” Lapis said pushing past the green gem. Getting down on her knees, she looked at the markings carefully and read out loud, “HELP ME, ROSE.”

 

Stevonnie’s eyes widened. “Um, Amethyst, when you saw Ocean Jasper in your vision, what was she like?”

 

“She seemed scared and then she started growling strangely for few minutes and then she spoke,” Amethyst replied.

 

“What did she say?” Peridot asked.

 

Amethyst hesitated for a moment but then she answered, “Malachite.”

 

Lapis froze at the fusion’s name. She was about to say something else but she was cut off by Padparadscha, “Amethyst, what did the Ocean Jasper say?”

 

Just then, a loud growling sound caught the group’s attention. They all turned around to see the Ocean Jasper crawling out of a nearby exit hole. The corrupted gem trembled in fear as she approached them.

 

“Oh, my,” Padparadscha said putting her hands over her mouth.

 

“R-Rose,” Ocean Jasper rasped through a mixture of growls and whines.

 

“Connie, we’ll have to unfuse for this one; I’ll need her to trust me in order for this to work,” Stevonnie said and in a flash of light Steven and Connie were back. Steven then cautiously approached the corrupted gem, who was now beginning to crawl back whimpering.

 

“It’s okay, I’m not gonna hurt you,” Steven said.

 

“Rose,” Ocean Jasper replied.

 

“I’m not Rose Quartz; my name is Steven, I'm her son," Steven explained.

 

“St-Steeeeven,” the corrupted gem whimpered. Suddenly, she caught sight of Lapis and roared, “MALACHITE!!!”

 

Everyone was alarmed by Ocean Jasper’s sudden outburst, especially Lapis.

 

“No, you’ve got the wrong the idea; I’m not her,” Lapis pleaded.

 

“MALACHITE!!!” cried the Ocean Jasper, clearly having ignored the hybrid’s reasoning. She lets out another anguished roar and charges at the blue gem. As the gem monster leaps into the air, Lapis closed eyes and waited for her untimely shattering. When it didn’t come, she opened her eyes to see the world tinged in pink. Steven had put her in a bubble shield.

 

“LAPIS, WATCH OUT!!!” Padparadscha shouted.

 

“Listen, Ocean Jasper, that’s not Malachite,” Steven pleaded. But his words only served to anger Ocean Jasper even further, as she started biting, slashing, and headbutting the bubble. Thinking fast, Peridot used her metal powers to pick up one of the metal bars from a nearby cage and she threw it at Ocean Jasper.

 

This only served to further the corrupted gem’s fury; causing her to turn her attention to the green gem. Just as she was about to strike the small technician, Amethyst hit her with her spin dash, sending the infuriated gem flying into the wall landing on her back. As she got herself back to her feet, Amethyst attempted a cautious approach.

 

“Listen, Ocean. The gem you’re after is a fusion that no longer exists. The blue gem isn’t Malachite; her name is Lapis. She was part of Malachite, but she’s nothing like her. You aren’t in any danger,” Amethyst stated.

 

Ocean turned to the nervous blue gem and clumsily said, “La-pis.” The blue gem nodded. “N-n-not Ma-la-chite?” the subdued gem stuttered out, almost painfully.

 

“No, I’m not,” she replied, with a guilty tone.

 

That seemed to calm the corrupted quartz so Steven phased away the bubble. Ocean started writing something in the ground and after Lapis finished translating it, she smiled. “It’s okay; I forgive you.”

 

“See, Ocean, like I said; you’re perfectly safe,” Amethyst said stroking the gem’s mane. Suddenly, Amethyst’s gem lit up and her eyes were filled with a pink glow. “Ah, c’mon, not this again.”

 

Then everything went dark.

 

**. . .**

 

When Amethyst came to, she was standing in what appeared to be a snowy area surrounded by snow-covered trees. Suddenly, a loud roar was heard and she turned around to find Ocean Jasper standing in front of Steven and Connie.

 

“This must be one of Ocean Jasper’s memories,” Amethyst said to herself. “Never knew I could look at other people’s minds.”

 

Suddenly, Ocean was tackled by an orange blur, which later revealed itself to be none other than The Ultimate Quartz herself.

 

“Jasper!?!” Amethyst shouted. The purple quartz stood there in complete shock and awe as Jasper repeatedly punched the corrupted gem into submission. After delivering one final punch, the orange quartz gripped Oceans gemstone and with a quick, smooth twist, the dog-like gem was poofed.

 

“Holy, smokes,” Amethyst said in shock. In a flash, the scene changed to the Beta Kindergarten, where Jasper stood in front of a cage that the Ocean Jasper was currently imprisoned in.

 

The Ocean Jasper roared at her captor.

 

“Pipe down!” Jasper demanded kicking the cage, earning a terrified whimper from the corrupted quartz. “You take orders from me now!”

 

Amethyst glared at the taller quartz; her hands balling into fists. “She can’t do this to people; this isn’t right. Even if a gem is corrupted, they still deserve the same respect as a regular gem.”

 

“You used to be a quartz too, didn’t you? What happened to you?” Jasper asked, skeptically.

 

Ocean simply lets out a remorseful whine.

 

“Tch, disgraceful,” Jasper scoffed. “I can’t believe I’ve resorted to recruiting you freaks! You’re almost as bad as that crystal runt; just look at you. This planet ruins everything!” Then she chuckled. “Well, everything except for me.”

 

“No, you don’t need a planet to ruin yourself,” Amethyst spat through gritted teeth. She would’ve laughed at any other situation.

 

“I won’t let this planet twist me like it twisted you,” Jasper declared, earning an agitated growl from the gem monster. “Your weakness is an embarrassment to Homeworld! You suffer because it’s what you deserve; we all get what we deserve…”

 

“Hmm, you were right about that one,” Amethyst said, angrily referring to the orange gem’s current status. Soon, the scene changed to Jasper’s fight with Smoky Quartz.

 

“I will not be beaten by another fusion!” Jasper declared furiously as she grabbed Ocean Jasper by the throat and in a flash of light, everything went dark.

 

“This must’ve been their fused mindscape,” Amethyst thought. “But where’s Ocean?”

 

Her question was answered when she heard a growling sound coming from behind her. Turning around, she found Ocean Jasper cowering in fear.

 

“What is she so afraid of?” Amethyst asked herself. Suddenly, she heard the sounds of very familiar cackling.

 

“That voice,” she thought. Suddenly, a large image of a cackling, turquoise colored face with four eyes towered over the gem monster.

 

“Malachite!?!” Amethyst shouted

 

“Heh, well, well, well, it looks like Jasper finally found a new one. I’m going to enjoy breaking you,” Malachite said, cackling maniacally.

 

In an instant, a slideshow of Malachite’s past started playing. It showed images of Malachite’s fight with Alexandrite at Mask Island, pummeling a defenseless Watermelon Steven and her slaughtering of the Watermelon Stevens when they tried to fight back. At this point, the corrupted quartz was lashing out in all directions, begging for it all to be over.

 

Finally, the last image revealed what appeared to be Lapis and Jasper restrained by water shackles, torturing each other inside Malachite’s mind. Soon, the image faded out and Malachite’s large form towered over the terrified gem monster.

 

“Now then,” Malachite said, smiling cruelly as she raised her arms. Out of nowhere, a large set of water chains wrapped all around the Ocean Jasper’s form. When she tried to break free of them, a pair of water shackles clamped her arm and legs, preventing any attempts to escape. “It’s time to start the real fun.”

 

Laughing maniacally, Malachite clamped her hands together and squeezed them. The shackles and chains began squeezing the helpless gem’s entire form suffocatingly; Ocean Jasper let out an inhuman screech in immense pain from the pressure of the chains and tried to break free, to no avail.

 

As Malachite laughed sadistically at her victim’s pain, Amethyst simply stared in horror at the scene in front her, eyes filled with fear. Suddenly, the whole area around them started cracking and everything turned white once again.

 

**. . .**

 

When her eyes had readjusted, Amethyst was back in the Beta Kindergarten where she saw Jasper and Ocean’s fusion struggle and split apart in midair; leaving its two components to fall to the ground.

 

“We could beat them if we stay together!” Jasper shouted. She wrestled to fuse back with Ocean but before she could, the twister keeping them suspended dispersed, dropping them both on the ground. With Jasper recovering from the fall, Ocean picked herself up and ran as far away as she could away from Jasper.

 

When the scene finally changed to the present time, Ocean Jasper stood on top of one of the cliff faces of the Beta Kindergarten, where she watched Amethyst and the other gems roam the Kindergarten.

 

 _“She knew we were here?”_ Amethyst thought. When Ocean’s gaze fell on Lapis, the sound of Malachite’s laughter filled her mind and her curiosity was swiftly replaced with anger.

 

“MALACHITE!!” she roared. Looking around, she found an old Injector. Grabbing one of its legs with her jaws, she lifted the large machine off the ground and she threw it at the gems.

 

Luckily, Amethyst was able to rush Padparadscha and Stevonnie to safety and when the Injector collided with the ground it landed right next to Lapis, just missing the blue gem. Ocean lets out an agitated snarl and watched as Lapis and Peridot walked towards the other gems, where she saw an Injector hanging just above them.

 

Using her full strength, the jasper ran directly at the large mechanism and rammed it head-on, sending it tumbling off the cliff and on to the gems. Thankfully, Amethyst was able to rush them out of the Injector’s path. Agitated, Ocean decided to pounce on the blue gem but before she could Lapis summoned her wings and flew upwards.

 

Suddenly, the scene around Ocean changed and instead of seeing Lapis; she saw Malachite fly directly towards her, laughing maniacally as she extended her arms towards the helpless gem.

 

Snapping back to reality, Ocean Jasper lets out a terrified whimper as she turns around and runs into the deepest part of the Kindergarten. Following the gem, Amethyst soon reached the cage area, where Ocean was currently hiding in one of the exit holes, trembling in fear.

 

“MA-MALA-CHITE!!” she snarled.

 

Amethyst simply watched, completely saddened by the whole experience

 

As her eyes started tearing up, everything around her turned white.

 

**. . .**

 

She was back in reality, where she pulled her hand back from Oceans mane and she turned around only to meet the worried looks from her teammates.

 

“Amethyst, you’re crying,” Steven pointed out.

 

She pressed her hand to her face and felt warm tears roll down her cheeks. She then thought back to everything she just witnessed.

 

 _“Jasper, what have you done?”_ she thought to herself.

 

**. . .**

 

After she explained to everyone what she saw, everything started to make sense.

 

“So that’s why she attacked Lapis?” Connie asked.

 

“Apparently,” Amethyst replied.

 

“Stars above,” Peridot all but whispered.

 

“THAT IS NO WAY TO TREAT ANOTHER GEM! JASPER HAD NO RIGHT TO DO THIS TO HER!” Padparadscha shouted furiously.

 

While everyone was shocked by the uncharacteristic venom in the sapphires tone, Steven calmly approached Ocean.

 

“Listen, Ocean, I’m sorry for what Jasper did to you and I can’t undo what she did; but I can fix what the war did to you,” Steven said pulling out the Hard Light Analyzer. “I just need a sample of your gemetic code. But, only if it’s okay with you.”

 

Ocean Jasper sat there for a moment before she extended her arm in Steven’s direction. Steven gently applied the suction cup to the quartzes arm and pressed the trigger. In response, Ocean’s gem started glowing and the device’s container started filling up with a luminescent, light blue liquid with turquoise spots that appeared to float in the fluid like a lava lamp.

 

Peridot scanned the liquid with her Gem-Pad and when the screen started flashing green, she smiled.

 

“The scan confirms it; this substance is exactly what we need to make the cure,” said Peridot.

 

“Alright!! You hear that Ocean? You’re gonna be normal again,” said Amethyst, excitedly.

 

“Oh, about that,” Peridot said apprehensively. “I just did a scan on Ocean’s gem and it appears that the cure won’t work on her.”

 

“WHAT!?!” shouted everyone in unison, followed by Padparadscha.

 

“I’m afraid so; it appears that the emotional trauma inflicted by Malachite has worsened her corruption to an incurable state,” the green gem explained.

 

“Wait, wouldn’t that mean that the gemetic code sample is tainted too?” Connie asked.

 

“Not exactly. The sample extracted from her body only carries her code, not her memories. Not to mention it’s not exactly sentient. Ocean Jasper’s emotions won't affect it at all,” Peridot explained. “Bottom line, Ocean’s corruption could possibly be permanent.”

 

After hearing this, Amethyst snapped and she was filled with a mixture of anger and despair. Suddenly, Amethyst’s rage-filled eyes started glowing pink.

 

“I should’ve known,” she snarled through gritted teeth. Soon, everyone turned their attention to the angry quartz.

 

“Jasper always does this!” Amethyst shouted. As she spoke, her gem started glowing and her body is enveloped in purple flames. ”She drags people into her battles, abuses them, and she doesn’t even care!!” Amethyst shouted.

 

“Uh, Amethyst?” Steven called out, worriedly.

 

“She treats others anyway she feels like and it doesn’t even matter if she hurts them in anyway as long as she gets what she wants!!!” Amethyst shouted, the flames getting bigger.

 

“Amethyst?” Steven called out again

 

“And you know what? I actually wanted her to be the first gem we cured,” Amethyst said. “Now I’m starting to wish that I didn’t!!!”

 

“AMETHYST!!!” Steven yelled out.

 

Her eyes turned back to normal and she finally took notice of her current position. As the glow from her gem faded out, so did the flames. Grumbling under her breath, she marched into the direction of the warp pad.

 

“Amethyst, wait!” Steven shouted. “Paddy, you stay here with Ocean; we’ll try to catch up with Amethyst.”

 

As Steven and the others went after Amethyst, Padparadscha stared at Ocean with a look of sympathy.

 

“You poor thing,” she said placing her hands on the quartzes forehead.

 

Ocean simply growled remorsefully and wrote a dismissive response in the sand.

 

After translating the text, the sapphire replied, "No, Jasper's wrong, none of the things she said about you were true. You're not a disgrace and you don't deserve to suffer."

 

The canine gem wrote out another response.

 

"Actually, I do know what it's like," she replied, solemnly. “It happened a long time ago; the diamonds have just deemed me defective and ordered me to be shattered. I tried to run away but a few of the diamond’s best gems managed to corner me in an alleyway. That was the day my life changed forever.”

 

**(A few thousand years ago)**

 

_Padparadscha whimpered in fear as her soon-to-be-shatterers, an Aquamarine and a Topaz fusion, had her cornered in an abandoned alley._

 

_“P-Please, have mercy!!” Padparadscha pleaded._

 

_“Hmm, let me think. Topaz? Should we spare this defect?” Aquamarine asked, mockingly._

 

_Topaz just stood there in complete silence._

 

_“Yeah, I didn’t think so either,” Aquamarine said flashing a devilish grin._

 

 _“But you don’t understand; I-I haven’t done anything wrong,” Padparadscha_ _replied._

 

 _“Oh, on the contrary; you see, gems are made to serve specific purposes. Those who can’t, don’t belong on Homeworld or any galaxy for that matter,” said_ _Aquamarine_. _“Now then, Topaz, have this miscreant executed.”_

 

_Topaz stepped forward and raised her double-sided mace._

 

_Padparadscha closed her eye and lets the tears run down her face as she took solace in her final moments._

 

_The sight of the sapphire trembling in fear finally did it for Topaz. They pitied the defective sapphire; they knew they couldn’t understand what it was like for her, but she knew she could give her at least these final moments. She loosened her grip on the staff, and waited a few more moments before she would inevitably shatter the poor off-color._

 

_Before anything else could happen, a large shadow fell over the the the three gems. Turning her attention to the source, Aquamarine came face-to-face with the large silhouette of a huge, segmented creature with six eyes, accompanied by two other silhouettes. One appeared to have two bodies branching from the hip and the other one appeared to be a normal gem, aside from having four arms and four eyes._

 

_“What in diamond’s name are those things!?!” Aquamarine squealed._

_As if on cue, the segmented shadow approached Aquamarine and Topaz, the former of which began stepping back in fear._

 

 _“STAY BACK!!!” Aquamarine shouted pointing her wand at the creature._ _The being either knew not what it was, or didn’t care, which it displayed as it did nothing to slow it’s methodical advance. Meanwhile, Padparadscha felt something grab on to her hand. Turning around, she saw that it was the figure with four arms._

 

 _“Those two are distracted; come with us,”_ _the figure spoke as it held out a spindly hand, a worried undertone veiling her voice._ _Having no other options to turn to, the sapphire took the outstretched offer of safety and followed the two strangers into another part of the alley that was lit by a single light._

 

_“I don’t know who you are, but thank you,” Padparadscha said. Turning around, the light revealed, to her surprise, that her saviors were two gems conjoined at the hip and a cross-gem fusion with four arms, four eyes, a long nose, big hair, reddish skin and a build similar to that of a quartz. The sapphire began fearfully stepping back as the conjoined gems approached her._

 

_“Don’t be scared,” said one of them._

 

_“We’re not gonna hurt you,” said the other one. This seemed to calm the frightened sapphire as she releases a sigh of relief. Soon the fusion joined the group._

 

_“We’re just glad we could help,” the fusion said smiling. “I’m Rhodonite.”_

 

_“We’re the Rutiles,” said one the conjoined gems._

 

_“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” said the other one._

 

_“And….I’m….Fluorite.”_

 

_The fourth voice startled Padparadscha. Turning to the source, she saw the large figure from earlier; except now, the new light had revealed the figure to be a fusion. Her body was segmented and had the appearance of a caterpillar. Each segment of her body took on a different hue. She had six legs, six eyes, and four arms. She had light-blue, short, wavy hair that reached her shoulders, a pinkish, bluish vest, and a bulbous nose. She had two gemstones on her forehead, three on her chest, and one where her navel should be._

 

_“What….kind….of….gem….are….you….little….one?” Fluorite inquired at a snail’s pace._

 

_“P-Padparadscha Sapphire,” she answered. “During gem reassignment for gems in Pink Diamond’s faction, the diamonds declared me defective because of inadequacy of assigned abilities and ordered to have me shattered.” The sapphire then asked another question. “Why did you save me?”_

 

_“Because you’re one us. You’re an Off-Color.” said the Rutiles, completing each other’s thoughts._

 

_“And Off-Colors need to stick together,” Rhodonite added smiling as she extended her hand. “Would you like to come with us?”_

 

_After a short pause, Padparadscha smiled and took her hand._

 

**(Present time)**

 

“That day, they made me realize that being Off-Colored isn’t so bad as long as you have friends who will accept you no matter what,” said Padparadscha smiling. “And you know, in a way, you and I are both Off-Colored. So, maybe we could be friends.”

 

The sapphire laughs joyfully as the corrupted quartz starts licking her face in agreement.

 

**. . .**

 

Amethyst sat on the warp pad, scrutinizing her feet, looking back on her flaws. She had so many thoughts flowing into her mind and they all revolved around one person: Jasper.

 

“Amethyst?”

 

Looking up at her name, she came face-to-face with Steven, Connie, Lapis, and Peridot.

 

“I don't wanna talk right now,” Amethyst pushed them off, trying to hide the sadness in her voice with a threatening tone.

 

“Amethyst, please, just tell us what’s wrong,” Steven pleaded.

 

Amethyst sighed. “You know, I just wanted to believe that there was some good in her. That everything she put us through was because of what happened to Pink Diamond.”

 

Steven smiled sympathetically. “Aww, Amethyst.”

 

“But she makes it so hard,” she continued. “You barely saw the surface of the things that Jasper put Ocean though; she just doesn't know when to stop hurting people.”

 

Steven and the others sat next to the small quartz as she went on. "And you know what; that's not even the worst part."

 

“What do you mean?” Steven asked.

 

“Jasper and I were both made on Earth; if this is what Earth gem’s are like then what does that say about me?” Amethyst asked.

 

“Well then, that’s obvious,” Peridot stated, simply. “It just means that you’re the superior specimen.”

 

“What?” Amethyst asked.

 

“Amethyst, you are so different from the other quartzes,” Peridot continued. “You see, you actually have some semblance of an awareness of the feelings of others, which is more than I can say about other quartzes I’ve dealt with,” Peridot added, an anecdotal annoyance gracing her voice. “When you hurt someone, you try to make up for it instead of just brushing it off irresponsibly like most other quartzes would.”

 

“Peridot’s right,” Steven said. “When you saw the things Jasper did to Ocean you felt bad for her and you wanted to help her; that’s living proof that you have a kind heart.”

 

Amethyst smiled. “You guys really mean that?”

 

“Yeah,” Lapis answered. “The things Jasper did to me were horrible but things she did to you were worse and yet, after all of that, you still wanted to help her. That’s very sweet of you.”

 

“In conclusion, you’re a much better gem than Jasper ever was and you always will be,” said Peridot.

 

Amethyst pulled them all into a hug with Pumpkin squeezing into the middle of it. “Thanks, guys.”

 

“Is everything okay,” Padparadscha called out as she came out of the cage area with followed by Ocean.

 

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” Amethyst said as she approached Ocean. “Hey, I’m sorry we won’t be able to heal you.”

 

Ocean Jasper wrote out her response in the sand, seeming to want to hide the true message until she was totally finished. Once she was done, she revealed it to be a shape that they all recognized.

 

A star.

 

**. . .**

**(In the Prime Kindergarten)**

 

Inside the Geo-Lab in the Prime Kindergarten, two figures spoke amongst each other. The first figure was small, about the size of a tennis ball, and the other figure was tall, about the size of a Pearl.

 

“Are you sure you saw 8XM, Petalite?” The tall figure asked the smaller one.

 

The small figure, Petalite, showed the larger one an image of Amethyst and a picture of a gemstone that’s identical to hers. “The gemstone matches; it has to be her, Onyx.”

 

The taller figure, Onyx, examined the images for few seconds and then she nodded. “Yep, that’s her alright.”

 

“Thank the stars; she’s the only one who can save Ivy,” said Petalite.

 

“Should I get Pink and wait by the fence?” Onyx asked.

 

“Yes, 8XM will need you to guide her,” Petalite explained. “I’ll stay here and send her a psychic message; I should warn you though, my telepathy isn’t what it used to be.”

 

“Just try your best,” Onyx said as she made her way to the exit. Once she was gone, Petalite made her way to a metal cube with green lights and she placed her hand on it.

 

“Stay strong, Ivy; I promise we’ll have you out of there,” said Petalite.

 

**. . .**

 

**(Back at the Barn, at midnight)**

 

“Okay, guys. The cure is ready,” Peridot announced holding up a vial containing a purple liquid. “So, who shall we heal first, Steven?”

 

“Well, I haven’t really thought about it that much; but, I think we should--”

 

“Jasper,” Amethyst said, stone-faced, cutting Steven off mid-sentence.

“Really?” Peridot asked raising an eyebrow.

 

“Look, I told you guys I was a better gem... But, the truth is,” As she said this, she smiled. “I want to be a better gem.”

 

Steven smiled back.

 

“What do you say, Steven?”  Peridot inquired.

 

“I’m with Amethyst,” he answered.

 

“Very well, should I inform Lapis?” Peridot asked.

 

“No need, she already knows; I told her that she could stay here,” Amethyst explained.

 

“Okay, and what about Ocean Jasper?” Peridot asked.

 

“She’s only coming to protect Padparadscha,” Amethyst replied.

 

“And, Connie?” the green gem inquired looking towards the human girl.

 

“Me and Steven are in this together,” she replied.

 

“Okay, then, let's go,” said Peridot.

 

As the team made their way to the warp pad, deep inside Peridot’s makeshift lab, the computers flashed to life with large text that read:

 

“WARNING: UNIDENTIFIED GEMETIC PROCESS RUNNING WITHIN OCEAN JASPER”

 

**. . .**

 

Arriving at the temple, the team found the place totally devoid of other activity, with no lights on.

  

“Hmm, I guess Garnet and Pearl aren’t home,” said Steven as they made their way to the bubble room.

 

“Good, because they would flip if they find out what we’re trying do,” said Amethyst.

 

Entering the burning room, Steven and Amethyst searched through the mass collection of bubbles for Jasper’s gem. While they were doing that, Padparadscha brushed back her bangs, revealing her one, single eye, and she stared at the bubbled gems with a look of fascination.

 

“How many gems are there?” she asked.

 

“More than a thousand,” Steven answered.

 

After ten seconds, Padparadscha replied, “Why would the diamonds do this; did they even care if their gems got caught in the final attack?”

 

“Padparadscha, when you emerged from the ground, how many gems were in the Kindergarten you emerged from?” Peridot asked.

 

“About one hundred and twenty,” the sapphire answered brushing her bangs back down.

 

“And how many of them were the same gem type?” Peridot inquired.

 

“Fifty,” Padparadscha replied.

 

“That’s why,” the green stated.

 

After a five second pause, Padparadscha replied, “What?”

 

“Because there are hundreds of gems with the same gem type, the diamonds believed it wouldn’t matter if a single gem is lost.”

 

The sapphire was completely appalled by this unexpected information.

 

“Um, guys?” Connie called out. “I just thought of something.”

 

“Sure, what’s up?” Amethyst asked.

 

“If we do manage to heal Jasper, then, what’s gonna stop her from killing us?” she asked.

 

“Why, Ocean Jasper, of course,” Peridot said, blatantly.

 

“Um, P-dot, Jasper absolutely destroyed Ocean in their last encounter; what’s stopping her from doing it again?” Amethyst inquired.

 

“Well, you have those new powers...”

 

“That I barely know how to use,” Amethyst shot back, cutting her off.

 

“Point taken,” Peridot admitted, conflicted. “But, where are we gonna find extra muscle?”

 

“Well,” Steven smiled hopefully. “I think I might know the right gem for that.”

 

He turned his head to a particular gem in the floating sea above the group. Following the half-quartz’s gaze, the gems and Connie found that he was eyeing a pink bubble containing an oddly shaped gemstone made up of squares, tapering off in a pyramid, whose pyrite-colored surface glimmered with all the colors of the rainbow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Wow, guys, that was a long one. Anyways, guys, next chapter, the gems, and Connie decide to get down to “bismuth” and attempt to cure Jasper and Ocean discovers that her corruption wasn’t only affected mentally. Also, guys, I’ve recently published my first SU oneshot: Amedot: Winter Snuggles. Feel free to check it out if want. But, guys, I hope you enjoyed the story.
> 
> Announcement: After this chapter’s done I’m gonna post the first chapter of my new story; Famethyst for Life. Stay tuned.
> 
> Credit to:
> 
> Sir Spuddrington Tatortot (co-creator, editor, and miscellaneous consultant) for help with the editing and wording.
> 
>  
> 
> E/N: As I was going through this chapter, I spotted the announcement. I hope you guys are as hyped as I am!!! There’s so much suspense in this chapter, I love it! And to the peeps reading this, I love you! Hope you guys have been having as much fun reading this as I’ve been.


	8. Jasper's Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An old enemy returns, with a thirst for vengeance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: First time writing a major fight scene.

"Okay guys, let’s hope this works," Steven gave an apprehensive look as he popped Bismuth's bubble. Bismuth's gem began to glow as it rose into the air. Large rays of light began pouring out of it and in a bright flash Bismuth was completely reformed. She stood there gazing at the crowd in front.

 

"Steven, what's going on?" Bismuth asked, confused.

 

"It's a long story but that's not important. Listen, Bismuth, I'm sorry things didn't work out the last time but we don't shatter other gems. My mom believed that every gem deserved to have a choice and by shattering them, we take it away from them," Steven explained.

 

"I understand," Bismuth said. Then she saw three gems and a human she didn't recognize standing behind Steven and Amethyst. "Who’re the new gems? Haven’t seen them around before."

 

"Oh, how rude of me," Peridot said. "I am Peridot, certified Kindergartener and the new leader of the Crystal Gems."

 

Bismuth was almost amused by the diminutive gem’s statement. "Seriously?"

 

"What?" Peridot asked, curiously.

 

"Peri, she's one of the original Crystal Gems; she knows you're not the leader," Amethyst said, laughing. 

 

The green gem blushed. She didn't know what was more embarrassing: the fact that she had lied to the face of a crystal gem and gotten swiftly busted for it, or the fact that she had made a fool of herself in front of Amethyst.

 

"Connie Maheswaran, it’s a pleasure to meet you," Connie said shaking Bismuth's hand.

 

"We’re recruiting humans now? Man, stuff changes a lot over 5000 years," Bismuth laughed.

 

"Greetings, I'm Padparadscha Sapphire," Padparadscha said. "And this is Ocean Jasper."

 

The corrupted quartz greeted Bismuth with a growl.

 

"You don't look like any Ocean Jasper I’ve seen," she remarked.

 

"That's because she's corrupted," Peridot divulged.

 

"Corrupted?" Bismuth asked, put off.

 

Steven explained, "At the end of the war, the Diamonds launched one last attack on Earth and the gems that were caught in it got corrupted."

 

“Typical diamonds,” Bismuth groused.

 

“But we have the cure for it now; we were just about to heal one of them,” Steven explained. “The thing is though, she kinda has a personal hatred for my mom and me by an extension."

 

"Why's that?" Bismuth asked.

 

"She said that mom shattered Pink Diamond," said Steven. Bismuth’s eyes widened at this shocking revelation.

 

“But that’s impossible,” Bismuth stated.

 

“I thought so too, but --” Steven began.

 

“No "buts" about it,” Bismuth said cutting him off. “Where’s the sword?”

 

Connie unsheathes the sword and hands it to her. Bismuth raised the sword and, without any hesitation, she swung it at her own gem.

 

“OH, MY GOD!!!” Connie shouted.

 

“BISMUTH!?!” Steven exclaimed.

 

“Look closer,” she said. After closer examination, they realized that Bismuth’s gem was completely unharmed. “See? Not even a scratch.”

 

“But, how?” Steven asked.

 

“I forged this sword with a light-weight metal alloy so that you could swing it hard and fast. But the sword has two other properties that Rose had specifically commissioned me to add: the alloy has somewhat reflective properties and, while the alloy is very durable, the sword is hollow and much duller than a sword should be. That makes it so it’s perfect for cutting through a gem’s physical form, but never the actual gem,” Bismuth explained. “If this sword were to strike a diamond’s gem, the blade would almost definitely shatter.”

 

“Wait!” Steven perked up, a realization coming to him. “When I went on trial, Blue Diamond said mom had shattered Pink with a sword! But… if the sword can’t shatter a gem…”

 

“…Then Rose couldn’t have done it!” Connie finished.

 

“Yep,” Bismuth replied knowingly.

 

“Alright, everyone” Peridot cut in, “I have found Jasper’s gem,” Peridot announced, proudly presenting the lavender bubble.

 

“Awesome, let’s do this,” said Amethyst.

 

“Let’s take care of  _ bismuth _ ,” Bismuth joked. 

 

"Hold on, we should take her gem down to Amethyst's room," Steven said.

 

"Why?" Peridot asked.

 

“Because, if Jasper tries to attack us, I think we should have some space to defend ourselves or fight back if it comes to that,” Steven explained. “Also, I don’t feel safe fighting her off when we’re this close to a pool of lava.”

 

After sharing some nods, the rest of the people present went down the tunnel to Amethyst’s room. Entering the area, Bismuth marveled at the sight of Amethyst’s large horde.

 

“Woah… I’ve seen my fair share of junk piles back when I was fighting alongside some other quartzes, but this is something else,” Bismuth praised.

 

“Heh, thanks,” the owner blushed. “I’ve had plenty of time to collect.”

 

Peridot inserts the antidote into the Hard Light Analyzer. “Okay, Steven. When she reforms, inject this anywhere on her body.”

 

Steven gave a nod, then Peridot placed the bubble a good distance away from them and, with the help of a rusty metal sickle from one of the nearby piles popped it from a safe distance. After a couple seconds of the gem lifelessly lying on the ground, Jasper’s gem glowed and rays of light began bursting out, the light bending into the shape of a basic humanoid form before fragmenting and letting out a roar of unspeakable anguish.

 

After a few seconds, Jasper reformed in her corrupted state, letting out a pained roar. Her tiger-striped face turned to the group and, with every sense aside from sight, they were spotted. She charged at them, only for Ocean Jasper to pounce on her and somewhat subdue her orange counterpart.

 

The two corrupted quartzes rolled around on the floor tussling with each other. They were scratching, biting, and headbutting each other until Ocean finally managed to restrain Jasper by wrapping her front paws around her throat and standing up on her hind legs, lifting Jasper into a similar stance.

 

“Steee-ven, NOW!!!” The teal gem roared out as Jasper struggled fiercely in her grasp.

 

Nodding, Steven rushed over to Jasper, placed the Analyzer on her leg and injected the cure just as Jasper kicked him away and threw Ocean off of her with her jaws.

 

Suddenly, Jasper’s gem starts glowing and her form is shrouded in a bright light. The team watched as Jasper’s form started shrinking and shifting, reverting to the familiar humanoid form of the Jasper they all knew. Soon, the light faded and the hulking quartz kneeled in exhaustion.

 

“Oh, my stars, it worked!!” Peridot celebrated, excitedly, the realization of her mistake dawning on her too late.

 

At the sound of the technician's voice, Jasper looked up and glared daggers at the group of gems huddled together.

 

“Rose…” she growled.

 

“H-Hey, Jasper, i-it’s great to see you back to normal,” Steven said smiling nervously.

 

“Hah…hah…heh,” The veteran gem chuckled.

 

“W-what’s so funny?” Steven asked, almost not wanting to hear an answer.

 

“You….You really think….this changes something….heheheh….hahaHAHAH!!!” The snicker growing into the not-so-perfect quartz’s trademark roaring cackle.

 

“What are you talking about?” Steven asked, reconsidering this plan.

 

“Don’t play dumb with me, Rose!!” She shouted, angrily, pointing an accusing finger at the supposed leader of the rebellion. “I don’t know what you did to turn Peridot against Homeworld, but it won’t work on me.”

 

“Jasper, please, it’s not like that at all,” Steven pleaded.

 

“Oh, cut the pleasantries, how gullible do you think I am?” Jasper asked. “You only healed me so you could try to drag me into your band of misfits and use me as your personal weapon against Homeworld.” Jasper accused. “You’ll do anything to win, won’t you? That’s the only thing that doesn’t separate you from any other Homeworld quartz, isn’t it Rose?”

 

At this point, Connie had just about enough. “His name is Steven, and he’s nothing like any of does heartless gems from Homeworld; he actually cares about others no matter how many times they tried to kill him and unlike you, he doesn’t take joy out of other people’s pain!!!”

 

“You have a big mouth for something so small and fragile,” said Jasper. “If you want to keep it on your face then you better keep it shut.”

 

“The only person who needs to shut up is you. You know, you’re one to talk about “doing anything to win” because the last time I checked, that’s exactly how you got stranded on Earth, trapped in a fusion, and corrupted,” Connie listed off.

 

“You dare!!!” Jasper roared through gritted.

 

“Woooh, someone call 9-1-1, Connie just fired shots, AHAHAHA!!” Amethyst nearly doubled over in laughter.

 

“Shut it, runt!!!” Jasper shouted before she turned her attention back to Steven. “Bottom line, this doesn’t change anything. Healing me isn’t gonna make me forget about what you did to my diamond and I will make you pay for it!!” She summons her crash helmet. “I WILL AVENGE MY DIAMOND!!!”

 

And with that, Jasper broke into her comet sprint and charged at them. While the others ran out of her path, Bismuth stood her ground and smiled proudly.

 

“I see you’re ready to do  _ bismuth,”  _ she joked.

 

As Jasper collided with her, Bismuth caught her helmet, stopping her dead in her tracks.

 

“Sorry, soldier, but I’m afraid you’re about to be dishonorably discharged,” she smirked.

 

Bismuth reels her arm back and delivered a strong punch to Jasper’s chest, knocking the quartz off course, sending her flying straight through one a trash pile and face-planting into another one. As Jasper tried to get herself back on her feet, she looked up just in time to see Bismuth, both hands shapeshifted into mallets, slam her right back onto the ground and delivers a rapid barrage of punches.

 

Just as Bismuth was about to land another hit, Jasper catches her fist and kicks her in the chest, sending her flying a good distance away. Jasper stood over the stunned blacksmith and as she was about to crush her with her crash helmet, Bismuth managed to roll out of the way, get back on her feet and hit Jasper in the left cheek, causing Jasper to stumble back a small way. The two now stood in front each other, both sizing the other up. Jasper glares at the blacksmith with gritted teeth while Bismuth shapeshifted her hands back into mallets and braced herself for the upcoming assault.

 

Without warning, Jasper lets out a battle cry and makes a sprinting charge towards Bismuth, the former builder gem responding in kind. The orange quartz reeled back her arm, ready to land a blow to Bismuth’s head. Just as they were about to get into each other’s range, Bismuth ducked under Jasper’s arm, dodged behind the quartz warrior and popped back up, landing a mallet on the small of the quartz’s back. She tried to get another hit in but Jasper managed to grab her arm, pull her in close, lifted her up by the throat, and slugged her directly in the chin, sending her flying into the air. As Bismuth fell, Jasper swung her helmet into the side of her chest, sending her into the wall.

 

Just as Bismuth was about to get up, Jasper sends her back into the wall with her spin dash, putting a massive hole in it. Before the blacksmith can react, Jasper grabs her leg and hurls her across the room and she lands skidding across the floor right into a boulder, breaking it in half.

 

The blacksmith gets up just in time to see Jasper charging right at her. Using this to her advantage, Bismuth stepped out of Jasper's path and grabbed the back of her uniform collar. Using her full strength, she hurled the quartz into a nearby stalagmite. Frustrated, Jasper leaped into the air and tried to land a spin dash on the blacksmith only for Bismuth to dodge it and deliver a punch to her torso. When she tried to deliver a kick, Bismuth simply caught her foot and threw her into a trash pile.

 

Now angered beyond reason, Jasper charged at Bismuth, locking them into an intense struggle. Now locked in a stalemate, the two gems began dodging, punching, blocking, and kicking each other, desperately trying to take down the other. At this point, the two of them both appeared to be battered up and bruised and this fight seemed like it was gonna go on forever when suddenly, Jasper grabbed Bismuth’s arm, pulled her over her shoulder, and repeatedly slammed her into the ground. After the fourteenth slam, Jasper de-summoned her helmet and lifted Bismuth up by her neck before she headbutted her right in the face, sending her back into the ground. Before Bismuth could even get back up, Jasper summoned back her helmet and slammed it right into her stomach.

 

While Bismuth grasps her stomach in pain, Jasper speaks up, “You held up well for a builder gem, I’ll give you that. But I’m afraid this battle is over.” 

 

Suddenly, before she could do anything, An azure club flew at Jasper from behind, flying around her head to slam into her visor, knocking her backward. After recovering from the split-second shock, she attempted to rise again and was promptly pinned down at the arms by a pair of dark green throwing axes.

 

“WHAT IS THIS!?!” she shouted as she struggled to get back up.

 

“HEY CLOD!!!”

 

Jasper turns her head to the source of the incredibly nasally voice, revealing it to be none other than Peridot.

 

“Here’s an idea, if you’re going to go up against someone who has ferrokinetic abilities, try to find a battlefield that isn’t littered with metal weapons!” Peridot taunted.

 

“When I get up, you’re as good as shattered!” Jasper shouted in retort.

 

“ _ If _ you get up,” Peridot corrected smugly.

 

“That won’t be a problem,” Jasper said, grinning. She went into a spin dash and leaped into the air, breaking out of her restraints and landing gracefully on her feet.

 

Now panicking, Peridot raised a battle axe and sent it hurtling toward the large quartz. Jasper caught it with little effort.

 

“Hmm, haven’t used one of these in a while,” Jasper said, turning the axe over in her hand, despite Peridot’s best efforts to pull it away. “Let’s see if it’s any good.” She turned back to the small, green gem, who gulped nervously.

 

But before she could even react, she was struck by a purple spin dash, causing her to lose her grip on the axe as she was sent hurtling over one of the trash piles. Quickly recovering from the attack, Jasper saw that the hit came from none other than Amethyst.

 

Jasper smiled menacingly. “Seriously? Are you really gonna try to come up against me, again? Did you learn  _ nothing  _ from our last two encounters?”

 

“Yeah, I actually did.” Amethyst returned, hotly. “All I have to do is wait for you to lose your temper and try doing something stupid. It’s an easy opening, I could take you down without wasting too much time or effort,” the purple runt smirked.

 

Jasper barely hid a blush of embarrassment as she remembered that she had fallen victim to that plenty of times before and growled at the smaller quartz.

 

“Aww, did I make big cheeto puff angry?” Amethyst taunted.

 

“THAT’S IT!!!” Jasper shouted. She swung her fist at the diminutive quartz only for amethyst to spin dash under her fist and into her legs causing her to trip. She tried to land another spin dash, but Jasper managed to disrupt it by punching her in the stomach, sending her hurtling into the wall. 

 

Amethyst placed her hand where Jasper punched her and raised an eyebrow.

 

_ “Okay, this is weird, it doesn’t even hurt. Last time, she easily crippled me with a single punch, but now it’s like she didn’t even touch me. What is going on with me today?”  _ Amethyst thought to herself.

 

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by her gem senses tingling. She looked up to see Jasper heading straight toward her. Using her newly acquired speed, she manages sprint out of her path, shocking the larger quartz as she ends up punching the wall.

 

“What the? How did you… Nevermind, I’m not gonna ask,” said Jasper as she rushes toward the purple quartz. Amethyst gracefully leapt over her, in a mock ballerina pose, leaving her opponent to collide into a rather large trash pile.

 

“Oh, yeah, a little word of advice; some of my piles aren’t exactly….hmm, what’s the word Pearl used, ummm? Oh right, “structurally stable,” Amethyst warned, mimicking pearl’s tone for the last two words.

 

“Wait, what?” Jasper was. Her question was swiftly answered by the pile collapsing and burying her in it. 

“Looks like you…” the tiny gem paused, digging around in the trash pile she landed on, “just got trashed.” Amethyst finished, lifting a pair of old sunglasses from the pile, and putting them on.

 

“OOOOOOOHHH!!!” Steven and Connie cheered from the sidelines.

 

Jasper bursts out of the pile shouting, “I’M GONNA SHATTER YOU!!!”

 

Jasper picked up a large boulder and threw it at the small quartz. Suddenly overtaken by her gem senses, Amethyst’s fist is enveloped by purple aura as she reeled it back and punched the boulder, reducing it to dust with a powerful shockwave.

 

_ “Woah, okay, I still don’t know how this is happening. But, HOLY SMOKES, that was awesome!”  _ she thought. Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by Jasper delivering a kick to her face, sending her a good few feet away.

 

Before Amethyst can get back up, Jasper summoned her helmet and launched herself toward the purple gem. 

 

Seeing this, Amethyst dashed out of the way as Jasper’s helmet crashed into the ground, only to bounce back and knock Jasper across the face with her own spin dash. She bounced again, trying to get another hit in, only for Jasper to grab her by the neck and pin her to the floor. Amethyst struggled in her grasp, but to no avail. 

 

“I’LL SHATTER YOU!!!” Jasper shouted reeling back her fist. 

 

Suddenly, she was blinded by a flash of light.

 

**. . .**

 

Jasper found herself in the Beta Kindergarten with the night sky hanging over her, where she was surrounded by the other Betas. They all stared at her with wide eyes and looks of disbelief.

 

_ “What’s going on? How’d I get here? Why does this feel so familiar?” she thought. _

__

Jasper was confused about what was happening until the sound of sobbing sparked her memory.

 

_ “No, it can’t be!!!” Jasper thought, frightened. _

 

Looking down, she saw that instead of Amethyst, she had a small, red quartz pinned to the sandstone wall by her neck. She was in tears, her face thoroughly stained with tracks.

 

_ “Carnelian!” Jasper thought. It was all coming back to her. She always treated the other Betas like trash, Carnelian tried to stand up to her, a fight started, and then… _

 

_ “No!” she thought. _

 

_ Glancing at the smaller quartz, she saw that Carnelian was heavily beaten up. She had a bruised eye and on her left shoulder was a cracked gem. _

 

_ The small gem glared up at Jasper with a spiteful, teary-eyed expression. “Go ahead then. Do it, Ultimate Quartz,” she spat. _

 

**. . .**

 

Back in reality, Amethyst was still struggling to break out of Jasper's grasp when all of sudden Jasper shouted, “NO!!”

 

Jasper threw her opponent into a trash pile, leaving her confused.

 

_ “What was that about?”  _ Amethyst thought, still in shock.

 

Meanwhile, Jasper stood there in deep thought, clutching her head, a tremble overtaking her body as if she were trying to carry a corrupted gem on her shoulders.

 

_ “It was an accident, I didn’t mean to, I just lost my temper, I would never try to shatter my own sibling,”  _ she thought to herself, apologizing to a gem that wasn’t there.

 

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by a metal object smacking her across the face. Turning in the direction of the attack, she identified the attacker to be a dark-skinned, female human child, who happened to be wielding…

 

_ Rose’s Sword! _

 

Glaring at the human with a fury that could make a veteran agate turn tail and run, Jasper charges toward her opponent, swinging wildly at the small human, only for Connie to slide under her arm a slash at her back before stabbing her in the leg.

 

Ignoring the pain in her leg, Jasper summons her helmet and swings it at Connie, only for her to duck under it and deliver a punch to her visor, shattering it.

 

Connie leaps up and tries to deliver an aerial attack, Jasper managed to grab her by her shirt and pin her to the ground. As the human struggles, Jasper crouches down so that they are face-to-face.

 

“You fight well for a human, Homeworld could really use someone like you. It’s a shame that I’ll have to put you down,” she said.

 

Thinking fast, Connie scooped some dirt out of the floor and threw into Jasper’s eyes. Jasper screamed in pain as the dirt temporarily blinded her, allowing Connie get in a quick punch to Jasper’s eye.

 

Standing back up, Jasper struggles to remove the dirt from her eyes. By the time she did, Connie delivered a leaping spin kick to her face. While recovering from the attack, she caught a glimpse of Amethyst attempting to spin dash at her from behind. Using this to her advantage, Jasper dodged it and kicked her from behind, knocking her out of her spin dash, causing her to collide with Connie.

 

Suddenly, a loud roar filled the room and Jasper was knocked back a few feet. As she was nearing a trash pile, she gets struck by a large blue claw, sending her into a wall. Gazing back at her new challenger, Jasper finds herself exchanging looks with an enraged Ocean Jasper.

 

“You again? Heh… Should’ve known you’d join a team of worthless silt; you fit right in,” She spat.

 

“RE-VEEENGE!!!” Ocean roared. She was soon accompanied by Lion, who bared his fangs and growled at the large quartz.

 

As her eyes landed on the large pink cat, Jasper began to remember again…

 

**. . .**

 

_ Back in the Beta Kindergarten, Jasper had the cracked, Carnelian pinned to the ground, crying her eyes out. _

 

_ “Go ahead then. Do it, Ultimate Quartz!” she spat. _

 

_ Jasper stood there with her fist reeled back, completely frozen in shock when suddenly, she was tackled by a brown, furry, blur. She punched the attacker off of her and looked up to see Rose Quartz crouched over Carnelian. _

 

_ “Are you alright, dear?” Rose asked the smaller quartz. _

 

_ Now overcome with rage, Jasper stood up and growled, “ROSE!!!” _

 

_ Rose turned to her and shot a glare at the orange quartz.  _

 

_ “Why am I not surprised?” said Rose under her breath. _

 

_ “You need to stay out this, this doesn’t concern you!” Jasper shouted, angrily. _

 

_ “When an elite soldier is picking on a defective gem, it is my business,” She replied. “And if you have a problem with that, you can answer to me.” _

 

_ “With pleasure!!” Jasper hissed. She pulled out two axes, summoned her helmet, and pounced at Rose. But just as she was about to strike her, she was rammed from the side by the same attacker from earlier. Gazing up, she saw that her attacker was a lion with pale-brown skin and a dark brown mane. The creature glared at her, snarling. _

 

**. . .**

 

Staring into Lion’s eyes, Jasper saw the same glare that she had seen on that day when the Beta Kindergarten was attacked by the Crystal Gems.

 

“You!!” she hissed.

 

Lion growled his reply. The message was clear.

 

“I’ll see to it that both of you pay for what you did,” she growled.

 

Out of nowhere, Ocean Jasper lets out a roar that shakes the entire room. Her gem starts glowing and parts of her body start shaking.

 

Peridot opens her Gem-Pad as a message pops up saying: “WARNING: MULTIPLE UNIDENTIFIED GEMETIC PROCESSES BEING EXECUTED WITHIN ‘Ocean Jasper’!”

 

Opening the message, what she saw left her speechless.

 

“STEVEN!!” Peridot called out.

 

“What is it, Peridot?” he inquired.

 

“The corruption pathogen in Ocean Jasper seems to be…,” She trailed off, still reeling from the shock.

 

“What?” Steven pressed.

 

“Mutating,” she finished.

 

Suddenly, large, cyan spikes started to emerge out of Ocean’s back and poke through her mane. The spikes started emerging from her shoulders and around her paws. Long, cyan tusks emerged out of the sides of her head and she starts growing three inches taller. Ocean stomps her front paws on the floor, cracking it, and she lets out a mighty roar.

 

“Woah, what happened to her?” Steven inquired.

 

“It would appear that the trauma caused by Malachite has caused the corruption to increase to the point where the animalistic characteristics in the host, as well as strength, endurance, awareness, senses, and size, are amplified,” Peridot explained. “In other words, she’s going through, well… let’s just call it “Super-Corruption.”

 

“Is she going to be alright?” Padparadscha asked, worried.

 

“She should be. Corruption is attuned to the emotional state of its host, so this form should wear off once she starts calming down,” the green gem said, a slight twinge of uncertainty still in her voice.

 

The now super-corrupted Ocean Jasper stalked towards her opponent, who summoned her helmet and launched herself at her corrupted combatant. Ocean twirled around and smacked Jasper with her tail, sending her hurtling toward Lion, who bounced her back with his sonic roar and sent her skidding across the floor.

 

When Jasper finally managed to get back on her feet, Lion jumped onto her back and sinks his teeth into her shoulder. Cringing in pain, Jasper tried her best to shake off the feline as he started clawing at her from behind.

 

Finally, Jasper managed to get a hold of Lion’s mane and threw him into a nearby trash pile. She tried to deliver a punch, but Lion ducked under it and bit down hard on her leg. Hissing in pain, she swung her foot out and throws him off, but she’s then hit with another sonic roar that sends her hurtling toward Ocean Jasper, who sends her back to the floor with a swing of her tusks.

 

Before she could get back up, Ocean slammed her back into the floor and delivered a rapid barrage of slashes. Just as she was about land another blow, Jasper grabbed her arm and threw her into a wall.

 

“Is that the best you can do?” Jasper asked getting back to her feet. “You’re gonna have to try better than -” Jasper’s monologue was cut off by a large, cyan spike sailing past her head.

 

“What the -- AAAHH!!!” Jasper shouted as another spike skimmed across her arm, leaving a small wound.

 

Turning her attention back to her opponent, Jasper saw Ocean flick her now bulbous tail, sending another large, blunt spike barrelling into her knee, forcing her to double over. Ocean Jasper roared as she launched a full barrage of spikes from her body. Fortunately, Jasper managed to push herself up in time to dodge the initial barrage. Running as fast as she could, Jasper made her way to one of the many trash piles in an attempt to take cover. She hissed in pain and nearly lost her balance when three smaller spikes lodged themselves into her back.

 

Finding a spot to hide, Jasper leapt over the trash pile just as a spike sunk into the back of her other shoulder, causing her to cringe in pain as she fell behind the trash pile, landing on her stomach.

 

Propping herself into a sitting position, Jasper started along the painful process of removing the spikes from her body as she tried to wrap her head around what was happening.

 

_ “How am I losing to this abomination? I should’ve defeated her seconds ago,”  _ she thought. Her internal dialogue is interrupted by the sound of large footsteps and animalistic snarling.  _ “That thing must be hunting me down.” _

 

Looking around for something she could use to her advantage, she glanced up at the pile she was hiding behind, which appeared to be four inches taller than Ocean Jasper. She smiled. “Perfect.”

 

She snuck over to the other side of the trash pile as Ocean Jasper stuck her large head out from the opposite side, trying to sniff out her prey. As Ocean walked over to Jasper’s previous position, The Quartz That Could stood at the top of trash pile cracking her knuckles.  _ “Let’s give her a taste of her own medicine.” _

 

Jasper let out a battle cry and leapt off the trash pile, reeling back her fist. As she was about to close in on her target, she is sent hurtling into the wall by a sonic roar. Gazing back up, expecting to see Lion charging at her, Jasper was startled when she found the pink feline was nowhere to be found.

 

_ “Where did it go?”  _ she thought. Her question is soon answered when a bright light emanates from the ceiling. Looking up, she is met with the sight of Lion emerging from a portal, about the tackle her.

 

“ENOUGH!!!”

 

As Lion approached her, Jasper choked the large cat and slammed him into the floor, then a wall, putting cracks in both. After giving three punches to the chest, Jasper raised the feline to eye level and headbutted him, forcing him to the floor, unconscious.

 

A loud roar of pure rage brought Jasper’s attention back to her other opponent. Ocean Jasper was baring her teeth at orange and growling incoherently, which confused Jasper for a moment before she finally the got the canine gem’s message: “LET’S FINISH THIS.”

 

Hearing this, Jasper summons her helmet and gets into a sprint position. “After you, freak.”

 

Ocean roared and charged at the orange quartz, the perfect quartz responding in kind. As the two warriors got closer, Jasper slid between Ocean’s front legs and spin dashed into her stomach, sending her hurtling into the ceiling before she fell back down, landing on her side. Before Ocean can get back up, Jasper slammed her back into the ground with her spin dash. 

 

Standing over her defeated enemy, Jasper prepared to deliver the finishing blow when suddenly, a loud scream filled the room.

 

“NO!”

 

In an instant, Padparadscha zoomed towards the large quartz using her naturally enhanced speed and shoved Jasper a good distance away from her friend, using her fast speed in to enhance the force of her push. The defective sapphire stared down at her fallen comrade.

 

“Ocean?” she called out.

 

The corrupted quartz was motionless.

 

“Ocean, say something,” she said, worried.

 

Still, Ocean remained silent.

 

“Ocean, please!!!” she called out, a single tear leaving her eye.

 

Finally, the corrupted quartz replied, “Pad-pa?”

 

After a short pause, she happily replied, “Yes, Ocean, it’s me; thank the stars, you’re alright.”

 

With a sound much like a sigh, Ocean Jasper began to shrink, the spikes on her body began to recede, and her form lost most of its bulk back. The off-color sapphire wrapped her arms around the animalistic gem’s neck. The sounds of Jasper’s yell suddenly shakes the room, causing Padparadscha to look up. As she followed the sound, she was greeted with the soldier charging at her, reeling back her fist. 

 

Suddenly, Padparadscha was pushed out of Jasper’s path. Looking back, Padparadscha was horrified to see Steven push her out of the way as Jasper swung her fist and punched him directly in the stomach, sending him into the wall.

 

“Steven!” she cried. She rushed over to the hybrid, who was clutching his stomach in pain.

 

"Wow, you must really be desperate for recruits if you chose this worthless defect," Jasper stated. "Beat it."

 

Padparadscha stood defiantly. "I won't let you anywhere near him!"

 

"Fine, have it your way," stated Jasper. In one swift motion, she picks both of them up by the scruff of their necks. "It's only fair that one of your teammates get to watch your final fight."

 

"STEVEN!!!" Connie and the gems cried.

 

"PAD-PA!!!" roared Ocean.

Grabbing the axe she dropped earlier, she took off for the temple door, quickly leading Connie and the other gems in pursuit. Exiting the temple and stepping onto the warp pad, she glanced back to find the others about to approach her. Shooting a quick glance to Steven and Padparadscha, she held the bladed end of the axe under the necks of her hostages, who struggled to get out her grasp. Seeing this threat made, Connie and company came to a halt, frozen with fear.

 

“Not another step!!” Jasper threatened. Suddenly, the other temple door opened and Garnet and Pearl came rushing out.

 

“What’s going on in here!?!” Garnet demanded. Gazing at the scene in front of her, she and Pearl summoned their weapons.

 

“If you want them to stay alive, then you better stay where you are,” Jasper warned, forcing them to stand down. “At the very rare chance that you find us, these two will only be alive long enough to say their last words.”

 

In an instant, the warp pad activated and they were gone.

 

“Steven,” Pearl barely whispered, tearing up as her weapon vanished from her grasp.

 

“Don’t worry, Pearl, we’ll get him back,” Garnet said, placing a hand on her teammate’s shoulder. She then cast her attention to the others. “For now, I believe someone has some explaining to do.”

 

Even behind her shades, Connie and the others could feel Garnet’s cold, nearly hateful stare. If looks could kill, there would be a dead body and four powdered gems on the floor.

 

After collecting her thoughts, Amethyst decided to come clean. “Alright...”

 

**. . .**

 

(Outside of Earth’s atmosphere)

 

In a flash of light, the ship commandeered by the Quartzes exits out of hyperspace and makes its way to Earth. Inside the cockpit, the Primes and Betas were sprawled on the floor, snoring away as Skinny manned the ship’s controls.

 

“ _ *Sigh* _ Our planet hasn’t changed a bit. The ocean’s still blue, the grass is still green, and the sun’s still shining as bright as ever,” she reminisced, smiling. Then she turned toward Carnelian, who had her head on the dashboard, resting peacefully. “Okay, as adorable as you are, I might as well wake you up and let you know,” Skinny said, fully aware of her co-pilot’s unconsciousness.

 

She gently poked the smaller gem’s cheek. “C’mon, Carnie, wake up.” Soon, the red quartz finally stirred, stretching her arms and letting out a yawn.

 

“*YAWN* Mornin’, Beanpole,” Carnelian murmured.

 

“Morning, sis. We’re nearly home,” she announced.

 

“Sweet, should I wake up Holly and tell her we’re gonna let her out once we land?” asked Carnelian, gesturing toward the sleeping agate.

 

“Sure,” Skinny said. “But, what say we give her a  _ special  _ wake up call.” Smirking as she emphasized “special”.

 

“What do you mean?” asked Carnelian. Skinny motions for her to lean in closer and whispered something in her ear, causing the red gem to smile and chuckle mischievously. Carnelian snuck behind Holly’s place by the left wall and shapeshifted her legs so she was at her height. She then stuck her finger in her mouth, covering it with her synthetic saliva, before sticking it into Holly’s ear. The uncomfortable squish of the gooey saliva in her ear woke the agate with a start.

 

“OH, MY STARS!!!” Holly shouted.

 

Skinny fell out of her seat laughing her head off. Carnelian doubled over laughing as her legs shifted back to their original size.

 

“Why would you do that? I swear you two are absolutely disgusting!!!” Holly shouted. “And I can’t even use my hands to get it out of my ear thanks to these chains.”

 

“HAHA, C’mon, Holls, even you’ve got admit that was priceless. You should’ve seen your face. “OH MY STARS!!!”,” Carnelian said, mocking Holly’s voice and facial expression.

 

The agates cheeks turned navy blue in utter humiliation.

 

“Yeah, she totally got you. Consider this payback for that electric whipping you gave me back at the zoo,” said Skinny.

 

“What are you talking about?” Holly inquired.

 

“Um, hello? During our escape when we were just nearing the ship, you ambushed us, wrapped that whip around me, and tried to electrocute me until I poofed,” Skinny explained.

 

The former enforcer gave a begrudging sigh. “Okay, fair enough, I suppose I deserved that. But I thought you said you didn’t want revenge?”

 

“Ah, ah, ah, I said we weren’t gonna resort to torture; I didn’t say we weren’t gonna get you back,” Carnelian chided.

 

“But did you have to use that much saliva?” Holly asked, disturbed.

 

“Hey, we wanted to make sure you got the message,” said Carnelian.

 

“Trust me, I got the message and I can still feel it, ugh,” Holly groused. “So, this is Earth? Looks rather bland to me.”

 

“Well, sorry, our home’s colorful, lively appearance doesn’t match the colorless, lifeless, eerie textures that you’re used to seeing after a planet’s been harvested,” Skinny retorted.

 

“It’s not that it’s just; what do you see in this planet? What makes it so special?” Holly questioned.

 

“It’s our home, that’s special enough for us,” Carnelian countered. Then, her eyes caught a glimpse of something. “Um, Skinny? You might wanna take a look at this.

 

Looking over the horizon, Skinny was shocked to see a Roaming Eye heading toward the planet. “Ah, silt.”

 

“What are we gonna do!?!” Holly yelped, panicking.

 

“Hey, calm down, I’ll just contact the ship and tell them to…”

 

“GET DUSTED, GUNK!!!” Carnelian shouted, cutting Skinny off as she pressed a button. Instantly the ship fired two missiles, hitting the Roaming Eye with full force and knocking it toward the Earth.

 

“Dang it, Carnelian, we were gonna talk to them; not ice them!” Skinny chided.

 

“Oops, sorry, kinda spur of the moment,” Carnelian admitted, smiling sheepishly.

 

“Well, I guess it doesn't matter now. C’mon, let’s wake the others up,” Skinny said making her way to the others.

 

“That’s the last time I’m going to try sleeping,” Holly grumbled.

 

“Ah, don’t be like that, Holls. It was just a small prank,” Carnelian said humbly.

 

“A ‘small prank’ that left me with an ear full of your disgusting saliva,” Holly shot back, disgusted.

 

“Well, didn’t sleep feel nice?" Carnelian asked.

 

“I suppose,” Holly admitted, hesitantly.

 

“Good,” the red gem replied.

 

“And I also suppose the prank would be somewhat amusing to someone else,” Holly surrendered, pouting at allowing them to hear such thoughts.

 

“Ha! I knew it!” Carnelian exclaimed.

 

“But don’t tell Skinny I said that,” she amended. “And there will be retributions for this when we get to Earth.”

 

“Whatever you say, Holly-dolly” Carnelian assured left-handedly as she kicked her feet upon the dashboard.

 

Holly grumbles under her breath while also trying to stifle a laugh as the ship made its way to Earth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Will the gems be able to save Steven? What happened in the Beta Kindergarten that scarred Jasper so badly? Will Amethyst ever discover her diamond origins? And will Holly Blue Agate ever be able to take a joke? Find out in the upcoming chapters.
> 
> E/N: Hoo, boy, this Jasper redemption arc might take a while, I oughta grab some popcorn. I’ve just been strung along for the story, for the most part, seeing where Doc goes with this, and I’ll say, I’ve been waiting on another check-up with Holly and the Fam. As an idol of mine in the fanfic world would say, I hope you like what’s to come!
> 
>  
> 
> Credit goes to:
> 
> Sir Spuddrington Tatortot (co-creator, editor, and miscellaneous consultant) for help with editing, wording, and characteristic maintenance.
> 
> Moonlit_Wings (Avid supporter) For being with this series and providing support and tips since day 1.


	9. Jasper's Vendetta

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now doomed to face Jasper alone, will Steven make it out of this alive.

Outside of Earth's atmosphere in the empty vacuum of space, a Roaming Eye made its way to the planet's surface. Manning the ship, was the Ruby Squad; Doc, Navy, Army, Leggy, and Eyeball. The five rubies were, once again, on a mission to retrieve Jasper. 

 

Initially, Yellow Diamond had planned to have them shattered for their failure, but she needed a witness for the trial. So instead, she gave the rubies a proposition in which they'd be given a third chance in exchange for Eyeball making an appearance at the trial. Now they were flying back to Earth in an attempt to rescue Jasper for the last time.

 

Four of them were standing in formation as Doc briefed the rest of the crew on their mission.

 

"Alright, Rubies, you know what to do?" Doc inquired.

 

"Yes, captain!" they replied as one.

 

"Good, then can one of you tell me what we're actually supposed to do? I forgot." Doc asked, slightly sheepishly. Army activated a holo-pad, displaying a red, holographic screen.

 

"Yellow Diamond has given us one last chance to find Jasper and bring her back to Homeworld," Army replied.

 

"Good, is that all, Ruby?" Doc inquired.

 

"In addition, she wants us to locate and capture any remaining rebel gems on the planet and bring them back for trial," Army added.

 

"Good, and Ruby, are you sure you have confirmation on where their base is located?" Doc inquired.

 

"Yes, Ruby," Navy answered.

 

"Good, now, can someone remind me what our plan of approach is?" Doc asked. Eyeball immediately stood up.

 

"First, we find Jasper and when we do, we ask for her assistance in capturing the Crystal Gems," Eyeball stated.

 

"Good, then nothing can go wrong," Doc said, triumphantly. No sooner than the words had left her mouth, a huge explosion rocked the entire ship, the structural integrity alarms blared and red lights flash throughout the cockpit.

 

"WHAT'S HAPPENING!?!” Leggy screamed, terrified. Doc runs back to the pilot seat and pulls up the ship’s schematics.

 

“Oh, stars,” she said, strapping herself in. “Rubies, the explosion caused severe damage to two of the warp thrusters; we won’t be able to maintain flight with just the two that remain. The impact has sent us hurtling toward the planet’s surface. Once we enter the planet’s atmosphere, the gravitational pull will cause us to fall to the surface at terminal velocity.”

 

“Umm, captain? I think we have another problem,” Navy spoke nervously.

 

Turning around, Doc’s eyes widened when she saw the hole in the back of the ship. Suddenly, the ship’s radar beeped, indicating that they were almost in the planet’s gravity well.

 

“Everybody back to your stations and strap yourselves in! I’ll try to stabilize our descent,” Doc said, as she wrestled with the ship’s flight controls. While the other rubies managed to claw their way to their seats, Leggy wasn’t able to make it to her station in time and when the ship entered the Earth’s atmosphere, the gravitational pull sped up the ship’s descent to the planet’s surface. Leggy wasn’t falling fast enough and was dragged to the hole in the back of the ship. Just as she was halfway out of the hole, she managed to grab onto some of the ruptured metal and held on for dear life.

 

“GUYS, HELP!!!” Leggy screamed. The rubies looked to one another with a look of uncertainty.

 

“Should we?” Navy asked.

 

“Well, let’s be honest, she’s not exactly the most useful member of the team,” Eyeball admitted.

 

“Plus, I really don’t wanna end up in the same position,” Army added.

 

“Sorry, Ruby, majority vote. You’re on your own,” said Doc.

 

Leggy stares at her former comrades with a look of betrayal.

 

“Guys?” Leggy said, voice dampened with shock. Suddenly, Leggy lost her grip and was dragged out of the ship completely. Her screams of terror made useless with no one around to hear.

 

**. . .**

 

(Earth, Strawberry Battlefield)

 

Jasper surveyed the area, making sure she wasn’t followed while Steven and Padparadscha struggled in the quartz’s grasp.

 

“Save your strength; you’re gonna need it,” said Jasper.

 

Padparadscha spoke up, one short pause later, “Let us go, you brute!!”

 

“Quiet!” Jasper snapped. “You knew what you were getting yourself into when you sided with Rose Quartz.”

 

“Jasper, you don’t understand, I’m not Rose!” Steven pleaded.

 

“I DON’T WANNA HEAR IT!!!” Jasper shouted back.

 

“Don’t waste your time with her, Steven. This brute can’t process anything that doesn’t involve battle tactics,” the sapphire said with venom in her tone.

 

“You better watch your mouth if you wanna keep your gem intact,” Jasper threatened. “Take a good look around Rose, because this is the last place you’ll ever see.”

 

Suddenly, while Steven was struggling, his body was shrouded in a bright, pink light. Jasper turned her head to the source of the light only to be hit in the chin by a spin dash, causing her to lose her grip on the smaller gems. Steven used his spin dash to move a few feet away from Jasper before he suddenly untucks himself.

 

_ “Woah, I can do that too?”  _ Steven thought to himself. His excitement was interrupted by the sound of Jasper grunting, indicating her recovery. 

 

“Padparadscha, hide!” he called out. Not thinking twice, the sapphire ran to the farthest end of the Strawberry Battlefield.

“You won’t always be around to protect them. Especially, not now,” Jasper states, brandishing the axe. “Because once you’re out of the picture, I’ll see to it that the rest of your group receive proper punishment for their treason.”

 

“Jasper, listen. My name is Steven Universe. I’m a half-human gem hybrid,” Steven went on. “My father was a human and Rose Quartz was my mother. She gave up her physical form so that she could be a part of me. She’s gone, Jasper.”

 

“ENOUGH!!!” Jasper roared, brandishing the axe and summoning her helmet. “No more lies, I’ll make sure you face justice for what you did to my diamond.”

 

And with that, Jasper leaped upward in an attempt to tackle the hybrid. Steven managed to jump out of the quartzes path as Jasper slams her helmet into the ground. Golden eyes locked on her opponent, Jasper lunged at Steven, madly swinging her axe. Luckily, thanks to his gem senses, Steven was able to duck and dodge every single one of Jasper’s swings. Frustrated, Jasper gathers up all her strength and delivers a final swing. As the blade got close, Steven summoned his shield and when the axe struck it, the vibrations sent it flying out of Jasper’s hand. Before she can react, Steven strikes her in the chest with the base of the shield, sending her into one of the Strawberry Bushes.

 

_ “I guess my training with Pearl is really paying off,”  _ Steven thought, silently thanking Pearl. That’s when a realization hit him. “Oh, geez, Jasper, I didn’t mean to do that! I don’t know what happened.”

 

“I see that you haven’t lost your touch over the years,” Jasper said, getting back up. “But you’re gonna have to try harder than that.”

 

Jasper comet-sprinted directly towards her opponent. Steven vaulted over her and threw his shield at the back her legs, causing her to crumple onto her knees. Jasper quickly regained her balance and spin dashed towards the hybrid. Steven held his shield out to tank the blow, but the force of the impact shattered the shield and sent it’s wielder hurtling into the flat surface of a nearby giant axe. Had he not been dazed by the impact and the adrenaline surging through him he would have recognized the color scheme of the axe was similar to Sugilite.

 

As Steven tried to gather his bearings, he felt his gem senses spring into full alert. He looked up just in time to dodge a punch from Jasper. The mountainous quartz unleashed a flurry of punches on the youth. Fortunately, with his gem senses, Steven was able to block, duck, or dodge all of them. As Jasper delivered the final punch, Steven grabbed her arm and hurled her over a large Strawberry Bush with all his might.

 

_ “Okay, first, the Gem Senses, then the spin dash, and now this? Where are these powers coming from?”  _ Steven thought. The question was quickly answered by a sudden recollection of the dream he had shared with Amethyst. He remembered when Pink Diamond tapped his gem. He remembered how it had glowed.

 

_ “Consider it a gift to your mother,”  _ the dead empress’ words echoed within Steven’s mind.

 

_ “Is this what she meant?” _ Suddenly, Steven was rudely dragged out of his stupor by the impact of Jasper’s fist connecting with his chest, sending him flying into a Strawberry Bush. The poetic irony, however, was lost on the stunned half-gem. As he tried to recover from the attack, he looked up to see Jasper standing over him, grinning victoriously back at her prey. She raised her foot over his gem and brought it down, only to meet the smooth surface of Steven’s shield. Steven put all his energy into pushing back the quartz’s foot, but the impact from the punch had knocked the air out of his lungs, so he could hardly put up any fight at all. Slow but surely, his shield began to crack.

 

“This is it, Rose!” growled the orange quartz.

 

As Steven closed his eyes and prepared for the inevitable, the sound of Jasper’s frustrated grunts brought him back to reality. Opening his eyes revealed large vines emerging from the ground a few inches away from them and wrapping themselves around the quartzes arms and legs, pulling her away from the hybrid.

 

Steven’s first thought was to make a run for the warp pad, but then he remembered that he wasn’t the only one here.

 

_ “Paddy? I have to find her. But, those vines aren’t gonna hold Jasper forever,”  _ he thought. As if on cue, Jasper spotted the axe that Steven knocked out of her grasp earlier. She immediately grabbed and began cutting away at the vines.

 

_ “I have to figure out a way to distract her somehow,” _ Steven thought. After thinking for about a minute, Steven looked at Jasper’s helmet and immediately remembered something from Garnet’s first fight with the orange quartz. He summons two shields and gets into a stance.

 

“I just need to wait for the right moment,” he whispered to himself. Just then, Jasper broke out of her organic confines and set herself at Steven. Luckily, Steven jumped out of Jasper’s path just as her crash helmet slammed into the ground. Before Jasper could recover, Steven rushed forward and slammed both shields into the sides of her helmet.

 

The vibrations from the impact left Jasper stunned, giving Steven enough time to leap into the air and search for his friend.

 

**. . .**

 

Padparadscha cowered under the brush of the many strawberry bushes  in the field. When she heard the stories of the Ultimate Quartz, she had just thought they were myths. She never expected her to be real or for her to be this violent.

 

“Paddy!”

 

She perked up at the sound of her name and looked from behind her hiding place. When she saw that it was Steven, she let out a sigh of relief.

 

“Steven, I’m over here!” the sapphire called out.

 

“Oh, thank goodness, are you okay?” he asked.

 

After a short pause, she nodded. “Steven, I’m scared.”

 

"It's gonna be okay, Paddy. I'm gonna get you out of here safely," Steven said, reassuringly. "I just need to distract Jasper for a little while longer."

 

"How are you gonna do that?" the sapphire inquired.

 

"Don't worry, I have a plan, but you're gonna have to trust me," he said. "Do you trust me?"

 

After a ten second delay, Padparadscha nodded.

 

"Good," Steven said as he started licking his hand.

 

**. . .**

 

Jaspers feet crashed into the ground as she landed elsewhere on the battlefield. At this point, the orange quartz had been pushed to her temperamental limit. Not only did she allow Rose Quartz to get the drop on her, but now Jasper can't find her anywhere.

 

"SHOW YOURSELF, ROSE! I WILL MAKE SURE YOU ANSWER FOR YOUR CRIMES!" She shouted, only to get no response.

 

"Tch, coward. You'd rather hide away than stand and face your destiny? What happened to your honor?" Jasper inquired. Suddenly, Jasper felt a soft tap on her shoulder. She turned around, only to get socked in the face by a stubby, red hand, the force nearly sending her about a yard backwards.

 

Regaining her bearings, her eyes met her attacker, revealing them to be a Rose Quartz-shaped strawberry that nearly matched the height of the mountainous warrior gem.

 

“I don’t know who or what you are, but don’t think you’re gonna….OOMPH!!!” Jasper’s rant was cut off by something slamming into her chest. She looked back to her new opponent, finding them to be another Rose-shaped strawberry wielding a warhammer, joined by twelve other duplicates wielding miscellaneous weapons that they picked up from the battlefield.

 

The one holding the warhammer let out a garbled battle cry and him the Strawberry Steven’s advanced on the orange quartz. Readying her fists, Jasper dove at the first attacker. The Strawberry Roses had lost the element of surprise, so Jasper would easily be able to hold her own against the offending group. Still, it would be enough time for Steven and Padparadscha to enact phase 2 of their plan.

 

“That should hold her for a while; let’s get out of here,” Steven said, emerging from his hiding place behind a giant axe. Grabbing Padparadscha’s hand, the two small gems began to slink off to find the warp pad, while Jasper, oblivious to their presence, continued fighting off the Strawberry Stevens.

 

As they navigated their way through a clutter of old weapons and strawberry bushes, Padparadscha piped up a question. “What are we going to do about Jasper? We can’t just leave her here.”

 

“There’s nothing else we can do right now, Paddy,” Steven answered.

 

“But what if she contacts Homeworld for reinforcements or tries to build up another army of corrupted gems?” the sapphire inquired anxiously.

 

“We’ll think of something soon, Pad; but right now all we can do is regroup with the others so that we can figure something out,” he replied. 

 

After a long hour of trudging through the maze-like battlefield, the two finally made it to the warp pad.

 

“Okay, Paddy, you go up there first. I’ll check to make sure Jasper’s not behind us,” said Steven. After a moment, the sapphire nodded and proceeded on all fours to the warp pad. But as Padparadscha made her way to the warp pad, Steven’s gem senses started tingling. Looking up, he caught sight of Jasper spin-dashing right for the off-color.

 

“Padparadscha, look out!!!” Steven said as he tucked into his own spin dash. Rushing forward, Steven pushed Padparadscha out of Jasper’s path and untucked himself to raise his shield above him. When Jasper made contact, the resulting impact set off a huge explosion, shrouding them in dust and causing Padparadscha to lose her balance and fall.

 

When the dust settled, Steven laid on the ground, teetering on the brink of consciousness thanks to the attack.

 

“STEVEN!!!” Sapphire called out.

 

Summoning the last of his strength, Steven moved to prop himself back up with his arms, only to be immediately brought back down by a large foot pressing itself against his chest. Looking up, Steven met Jasper’s cold, predatory eyes. The quartz stood, hands covered in strawberry juice, glaring down at the hybrid as she held him down with her foot.

 

“You know, I was gonna make this quick,” Jasper remarked, her tone taking on a mocking shred of an apology, brandishing the axe as she applied more pressure to Steven’s chest, eliciting a series of desperate gasps and coughs from the squirming child. “But you know what? After all the work you made me go through to get us to this point, I think you’ve earned a slow, agonizing end.”

 

With that, Jasper raised the axe. The blade glimmered in the moonlight before she brought it down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Oh, twist ending. Let’s all hope Steven makes it. Next chapter, The Famethyst finally make an appearance on Earth, we will find out where the Rubies have landed, and Amethyst unleashes a powerful force that no one has ever seen before. Until next time, bye guys.
> 
> E/N: Man, it took me a while to get to editing this (//_^).  
> I’ve hardly been asking any questions about the story, so I’m nearly just as blind as you all about what’s to come (well, aside from some huge plot points, but eh ◕‿↼ ). I hope you guys are as hyped as I am for whatever comes next.
> 
> Credit goes to:
> 
> Sir Spuddrington Tatortot (co-creator, editor, and miscellaneous consultant) for help with editing, wording, and characteristic maintenance.


	10. A Diamond's Rage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Okay, guys, please remember, I wrote this fanfic a few months after the Wanted arc and this story is canon divergent, so don’t start saying in comments that this story doesn’t follow A Single Pale Rose. Also, sorry it took so long to update. I’ll try to make these updates quicker in the future.
> 
> E/N: We are fully aware of the conflict between this story and canon, we have been aware of it since the good doctor started writing this. Our canon has made it clear that this takes place in an AU where PD was a separate gem from rose quartz, and looked much different to her canon appearance. I’m sorry for not keeping up with this, currently working on this from away from home, so… ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

The Scream.

 

Steven screamed in indescribable agony as the blade of the axe lodged itself into his shoulder. He didn’t know if it had broken his shoulder bone and he didn’t care. All he cared about was that it hurt. A lot.

 

As the blade receded from his shoulder, albeit a little roughly, his hand darted for the wound, clutching it in a futile attempt to ease the pain.

 

Jasper raised the axe and was about to strike again when suddenly, she noticed something that caused her eyes to widen.

 

The business end of the blade was stained with a viscous red liquid.

 

 _"Blood?"_ she thought to herself. She then looks down at Steven and noticed the liquid oozing from the large cut on his shoulder. _"That's impossible. "Gems don't bleed; unless..."_ Jasper thought back to what Rose (?) said earlier. _"No."_

 

Jasper lifted her foot off the small gem’s chest and gently replaced it with her hand. After a couple of seconds, she felt it: a weak _“thmp-thmp, thmp-thmp”_ that could only be one thing; a heartbeat.

 

Removing her hand from the oddity’s chest and stumbling back a couple of paces in shock, the perfect quartz beheld the wounded creature in front of her with shock, horror, and disgust. "What are you?"

 

Out of nowhere, Jasper felt something thump against her calf. Turning around, she saw Padparadscha wielding an old, brittle sword, half of the blade having been cracked off from the blow to her leg. Padparadscha was breathing heavily, clearly blinded by fear and anger. Glaring at the small off-color, Jasper marched toward the defective sapphire, who dropped the broken sword and started to backpedal very slowly. As Jasper began to close in on her target, a white orb of light struck the back of her head, leaving her blindsided. Before Jasper could recover, a red gauntlet impacted her chest, rocketing her into a small overhang, stamping it with a Jasper-shaped indent.

 

"Steven!!" a familiar voice called out. Turning to the source, Steven found Garnet standing over him.

 

"Garnet?" he returned weakly. The fusion phased away her gauntlets and placed a hand on his cheek. She thoroughly looked him over for any severe injuries, before letting out a sigh.

 

"Besides the gash on your shoulder, you should be alright," she assessed. Garnet then cast her eyes to Padparadscha before smiling. "New recruit?"

 

After a five second pause, she nods.

 

"Welcome aboard," the fusion replied, a ghost of a smirk gracing her lips.

 

"STEVEN!!"

 

At that moment, the other Crystal Gems, along with Lapis, and Connie made their presence known. Pearl's eyes widen when she catches a glimpse of the cut on Steven's shoulder. "OH, MY GOODNESS!"

 

"Pearl, it's fine," Steven reassured.

 

"It is _not_ fine! You're _bleeding_! Lapis, head back to the temple and get some bandages," she ordered.

 

"On it," the blue gem said, taking off back to the temple.

 

"Amethyst, he's down here!” Garnet called out.

 

Amethyst, in the form of an owl, flew down to join the rest of the team before returning to her original form. "Oh, good, for a second there I thought..." Amethyst cuts her sentence short as her eyes widen at the sight of Steven tearing up in pain, clutching his shoulder. Walking past her teammates, she examined Steven's injury and frowned.

 

"What did this?" she snarled. As if on cue, Jasper lets out a grunt, indicating her recovery. But Amethyst's mind wasn't focused on the quartz, it was more focused on the axe she wielded that was covered in blood. This was what had hurt Steven. The little sibling that always supported her on her best days and helped her through her worst. The thought filled her with incomprehensible rage. She balled her fists and her eyes took on an unusually bright, pink sheen.

 

 _"Giving him a black eye was one thing, but this? This is something else entirely,"_ she thought, gritting her teeth.

 

Jasper raises her head and catches a good glimpse of the team before getting back to her feet and assuming a battle stance, sporting a malicious grin. "Finally, the whole team of traitors who've done nothing but disgrace Homeworld by just existing. All gathered here to get what’s coming to them."

 

The gems summoned their weapons and were about to strike when suddenly...

 

"STAND DOWN!"

 

The gems turned back to find that the voice came from none other than Amethyst, eyes glowing bright pink. The small quartz trudged past her teammates, glaring at the orange quartz.

 

"She's mine," she hissed through gritted teeth. The rest of the Crystal Gems stepped back, too stunned to say no. It wasn't what she said that surprised them; it was how she said it. Her usually raspy and rough tambre was accompanied by something else. Another voice speaking in unison with her own. One much smoother, more dominant, commanding and distinctively feminine. Almost like an empress.

 

“You know Jasper, I let it slide when you split Garnet in half, I looked the other way when you used Rose’s name in vain, and I discounted the time when you made me question my own worth,” Small purple arcs of electricity began jumping across her balled fist, intensifying with every word. “But, hurting my brother is a line you _don’t_ wanna cross.”

 

Amethyst raised her fist as the charge built up inside of it. She opened her hand out in a halting motion, and a massive, purple lightning bolt erupted from her hand and collided with her mountainous opponent. The blast sent Jasper crashing a couple of yards into a giant, tower shield. Jasper was able to gather her bearings, but Amethyst was already on top of her, her fist surrounded by a radiant purple aura, ready to bring down some earthling justice.

 

Jasper barely managed to roll to the side as Amethyst's fist collided with the ground, shattering the giant shield and putting a huge crater in the ground.

 

Amethyst muttered a growl of annoyance. Her gem glowed and a pair of purple, ghostly, almost angelic wings sprouted out of her back. In a single flap, she flew out of the crater and positioned herself above the orange quartz, who was still stunned from hearing the voice of her deceased diamond.

 

Snapping back to reality, Jasper twirled her axe around before hurling it at the small quartz. Amethyst simply extended her hand and the axe stopped in mid-air, surrounded by a purple aura.

 

“Your skills are impressive,” said Amethyst, in a voice that wasn’t entirely her own. With a flick of her wrist, the axe was sent sailing back toward the large quartz. Jasper closed her eyes and braced herself for her imminent demise. But when all she heard was the sound of the blade piercing into the ground, she opened her eyes and turned to her side to find the blade of the axe plunged into the ground. Unfortunately, that was only a diversion.

 

“If only you weren’t so easy to read,” Amethyst added. Before Jasper could react, she was struck by a purple fireball that sent her hurtling into the flat surface of a giant sword. Amethyst descends back to the ground phasing away her wings and hardening her glare on the orange quartz.

 

“Tch, pathetic. You insult the Crystal Gems for utilizing fusion in their fights, but honestly; you’ve only really seen that from Garnet. But unlike you, the gems that make her don’t remain fused for strength; they stay fused out of love. The others only use fusion as a last resort,” Amethyst went on. “You, on the other hand, see it differently.”

 

As Jasper tried to recover, she teared up as she tried to ignore the voice. Though she knew it wasn’t Pink Diamond, it still hurt hearing the voice of the gem she once admired and worshipped belittling her.

 

“You see their unity as weakness and you look down on them because of it. But in the end, that’s what makes them stronger. Stronger than you will ever be,” said Amethyst.

 

Roaring a battle cry, Jasper summoned her helmet to crush the small quartz. Amethyst swiftly and effortlessly grabbed her helmet and held her in place.

 

“Acting on anger, not the best strategy,” she tauntingly warned. She lifted the large quartz up by her helmet and slammed her back and forth into the ground from side to side, her enhanced speed and strength multiplying the force behind each impact. After the seventh slam, she lifted Jasper up by the back of her collar and jabbed her twice in the face before sending her soaring with a powerful uppercut.

 

Amethyst backed up a couple of feet and as Jasper was about to land, Amethyst stomped her foot down, sending out a powerful seismic shockwave, which took out three strawberry bushes and sent Jasper flying into a large boulder, putting a large crack in it.

 

Once Jasper recovered, she grabbed the boulder she landed against and hurled it at her puny adversary. Amethyst effortlessly obliterated it with a lightning blast. Jasper comet-sprinted toward her tiny opponent, reeling back her fist. But as she was closing in on her target, Amethyst swiftly leapt over her, gracefully somersaulting in mid-air, and as she landed behind the other quartz, she dug her heels into the ground, summoned her whip, and wrapped it around Jasper’s torso, halting the bull-like quartz’s charge.

 

With a flick of her whip, Amethyst repeatedly slammed her around the battle before yanking the large quartz toward her. Once she was in arm’s reach, Amethyst delivered a rapid flurry of punches to the towering quartz’s chest before delivering a roundhouse kick to her gut, tossing her a couple yards sideways.

 

Frustrated by the overwhelming power of her opponent betraying her stature, Jasper snarled and rushed toward Amethyst and the two were locked into an immediate stalemate. Jasper punched, kicked, and swatted at the smaller opponent, trying her hardest to bring her down. But, Amethyst blocked, dodged, and countered all of her attacks and even got a few of her own hits in.

 

“As much as I love watching your futile attempts at victory,” Amethyst said, grabbing Jasper’s fist. “I grow bored of this fight.”

 

And with that, Amethyst hurled Jasper high into the air. Quickly resummoning her wings, Amethyst flew swiftly into the sky and halted the quartz’s ascent just as she was about to reach the clouds. Without warning, she sent the quartz hurtling back toward the ground with a powerful shockwave punch. As Jasper collided with the ground, the resulting impact shook the whole entire battlefield and picked up a huge cloud of dust.

 

When the dust subsided, Jasper was lying face-down in a huge crater. The quartz’s body was covered with all manner of scuff marks, scratches, and bruises. As she struggled to get back up, she was lifted into the air by an invisible force. She soon made eye contact with Amethyst, who floated gracefully in front of her with her wings.

 

“I really didn’t want it to come to this, but you pushed me past my limit,” said Amethyst. Suddenly, Jasper’s axe was pulled out of the ground by an invisible force and it floated right in front of Jasper’s face, aimed directly at her gem. “And this is the consequence.”

 

Before anything could happen, Amethyst felt a cold chill run through her whole body. Time seemed to slow down, and she felt the diamond’s power leave her body, as if a platform had disappeared from under her feet. That’s when she heard a familiar voice in her head.

 

_“Amethyst.”_

 

The quartz’s eyes widened.

 

 _“Pink Diamond?”_ she replied through her thoughts.

 

 _“I’m begging you, don’t do this,”_ pleaded Pink Diamond.

 

 _“But why should I show her any mercy? She nearly killed Steven,”_ she replied.

 

 _“I know and I’m upset about it too, but is this what Steven would’ve wanted; to watch the closest thing he has to an elder sibling shatter another of her own kind?”_ Pink asked.

 

Amethyst looked down at Steven and her fury wavered when saw the look of fear in his eyes. Sighing, she turned her attention back to the oversized soldier beneath her feet.

 

“On second thought, because I’m feeling generous, I’ll spare your life,” said Amethyst, tossing the axe to the front of the warp pad. “But heed my warning.”

 

As she spoke, she extended her arm in front of the orange quartz and clenched her fist. Jasper hissed in pain as an invisible force began to push her entire form inwards. She felt she might poof at any moment. Then, the force abated, as soon as it had come.

 

“If you ever cross me again, I will redecorate the temple with your shards,” Amethyst threatened. With that, Amethyst sent Jasper hurtling to the front of the warp pad with a huge lightning blast.

 

Jasper pulled the axe out of the soil before pitifully dragging herself onto the warp pad and warping out of the battlefield to some faraway part of the planet.

 

Soon, Amethyst’s eyes returned to their original coloration as the pink aura surrounding her retreated back to her gem and the last physical remnants of what would have once been her Diamond left her. She smiled as a soothing warmth pulsed in her chest.

 

 _“I’m proud of you, Amethyst. You made the right choice,”_ Pink Diamond’s voice echoed in her mind, sweetly. _“You should probably return to your normal form; your family is worried about you. Take care, my Amethyst, I love you.”_

 

The aura faded away and Amethyst floats gracefully back to the ground. Sporting a look of bewilderment, she surveyed the damage caused by her fight with Jasper.

 

“Amethyst?” Garnet called, walking over to the purple gem. “Are you feeling okay?”

 

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just… YAWN!” Amethyst yawned. “Feel...a little...light-headed.”

 

Amethyst collapsed face-first onto to the ground, completely drained of any energy.

 

“AMETHYST!?!”

 

The others quickly rushed over to the small quartz and surrounded her. Garnet gently lifted the purple gem and brushed the dirt off her face.

 

“Amethyst, are you sure you’re alright?” Garnet asked.

 

“Yeah, *YAWN* It’s just that whatever that was, really took a lot out of me,” she replied.

 

Finally being brought back to reality, Amethyst looked up at the worried faces of Garnet and the others.”

 

Pearl was the one who spoke first. “What on earth is going on?”

 

Amethyst replied. “It’s a very long story.”

 

“That’s okay, just take your time and go into as much detail as you can,” said Garnet.

 

Amethyst sighed. “Alright, you guys might wanna sit down for this.”

 

**. . .**

 

(Prime Kindergarten)

 

Jasper laid hidden in one of the many exit holes in the Prime Kindergarten, trying her hardest to ignore the pain of her injuries. She would’ve warped to the Beta Kindergarten, but she knew the gems would expect her to be there.

 

Being here brought back memories of that fateful day in her own Kindergarten.

 

_She had Carnelian pinned down. The small, red quartz was all battered and bruised. Her gem was so cracked that all it would take was a single poke to end her existence. She was completely defenseless and at the mercy of the Ultimate Quartz. Tears falling from her eyes and the look of betrayal directed toward her larger counterpart._

 

 _"Go ahead then. Do it, Ultimate Quartz,"_ she spat.

 

Forgetting about the pain she was in, Jasper let tears of her own roll down her cheeks at the mere thought of what she did.

 

“I’m sorry, Carnelian,” she said, silently to herself.

 

Her thoughts were interrupted by voices in the distance.

 

“Rubies? Is everyone accounted for?” someone asked.

 

“With the exception of Ruby, Yes,” someone else replied.

 

Wiping away her tears, Jasper walked out of the exit hole only to be greeted by the sight of the Ruby Squad. Eyeball was the first to notice her presence.

 

“R-R-Ruby?” said Eyeball, pointing over Doc’s shoulder. Following her finger, Doc turned around and her eyes widened at sight of the Ultimate Quartz.

 

“Oh, my stars, Jasper! We finally found you!” she exclaimed, astonished. As if on cue, she and the other Rubies went into a formation, giving Jasper a gem salute.

 

“Ruby Facet 2 Cut 3XC, squadron commander,” Doc stated. “It’s an honor to be in your presence, General.”

 

Jasper simply nods before she turns her attention to Eyeball. “You look familiar, soldier. Have we met before?”

 

This got the red gem to blush excitedly. _“She remembers me!!!”_

 

“I-I’m R-R-Ruby-1F4 Cut-4ND, general,” she replied, nervously. “I fought in the war for Earth.”

 

“Hmm, I think I remember. Are you that Ruby from Facet 6 who was part of the first ground force?” Jasper asked.

 

“Y-Y-Yes, that was me,” she replied, shakily.

 

“Heh, glad you made it out,” said Jasper. “Anyways, what business do you have here?

 

“Yellow Diamond sent us here to retrieve you,” Doc stated.

 

“Is that it?” she asked.

 

“Actually, there’s more but I can’t exactly remember,” Doc explained.

 

Jasper rolled her eyes. _“Of course you can’t.”_

 

Eyeball facepalmed. “She wanted us to locate any remaining rebels and bring them back for punishment.”

 

"Oh, right," said Doc. "Anyways, we were hoping we could have your assistance."

 

Jasper thought about it for a moment and then she said, "Sure, why not."

 

The rubies were absolutely ecstatic.

 

“She said yes!” exclaimed Navy.

 

“We won’t let you down, Jasper,” Army said, saluting.

 

“I’ll die for you!” Eyeball declared.

 

“It’s truly an honor to work under your leadership,” said Doc.

 

“We’ll need as many soldiers as possible after what I just went through,” said Jasper.

 

“Oh, my stars, Jasper you’re injured!” exclaimed Eyeball, gesturing towards the quartz’s scratches and scuff marks.

 

“And I was starting to think no one noticed,” Jasper said, sarcastically.

 

Eyeball’s gem glowed as she summoned her chisel. “Which one did it? Was it Rose? I swear to my diamond, I’m gonna ram this blade right through her gem!! And when she’s shattered, I’m gonna incinerate whatever’s left of her gem!!!”

 

“At ease, soldier, it wasn’t Rose,” Jasper explained.

 

“Then who was it; I’ll shatter them!?!” Eyeball inquired.

 

“It was the runt,” the quartz replied.

 

“The amethyst did this? But how?” asked Doc.

 

“A gem as defective as her shouldn’t be able to do any against you,” said Army.

 

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. In fact, she didn’t even stand a chance against me the first two times we fought,” Jasper explained. “But this time, she managed to turn the tables.”

 

“How?” asked Navy.

 

“You four might wanna sit down for this; it’s gonna be a lot to take in,” said Jasper. The rubies gather around the large quartz, giving her their full, undivided attention.

 

“I don’t how she did it, but somehow that runt was able to enhance her capabilities,” she explained.

 

“Do you think she did some type of special training?” asked Eyeball.

 

“Training? More like experiments,” the quartz replied. “That runt had powers that went beyond anything a regular quartz could achieve.”

 

“How so?” asked Eyeball.

 

“Where do I even begin?” asked Jasper. “Creating wings made of light, shooting fireballs, lightning blasts, the ability to generate seismic earthquakes, telekinesis; this whole time I thought Rose picked the runt out of desperation, but something tells me she knew about her powers.”

 

Jasper frowned at that thought.

 

 _“Well played, Rose,”_ she thought. At the mention of Rose, Jasper's mind went back to the aftermath of her fight with Steven.

 

“Also, while we’re on the topic of Rose Quartz, there’s something you should know,” said Jasper. “During a recent battle with Rose, when I finally had her pinned down, I struck her with my axe.”

 

“Woah!” the rubies gasped, astonished.

 

“Did you finally finish her off?” Eyeball asked, hopeful.

 

“I was about to, but when I pulled the axe back, well… this came out of her,” Jasper said, pulling out the axe. What they saw, left them completely bewildered.

 

“Oh my stars, what is that?” asked Doc.

 

“That’s blood; it’s what’s inside humans,” Eyeball explained. “Wait, how is this possible? Gems don’t bleed.”

 

“Are you familiar with the concept of human reproduction?” asked Jasper.

 

“Yes, Pink Diamond explained it to me one time,” Eyeball replied.

 

Jasper explained to them what Steven told her before their fight. Once she was done, the rubies were nearly speechless.

 

“Oh my stars!” exclaimed Doc.

 

“This is unheard of,” said Navy.

 

“Rose is sick!!” said Army.

 

“So, that kid was telling the truth,” said Eyeball. Then her shock turned to panic. “Oh my stars, I tried to stab him.”

 

“Don’t get soft, soldier; this changes nothing. The Crystal Gems are still the enemy,” Jasper said, sternly.

 

“What are we gonna do, General?” asked Doc.

 

“Yeah, General, what’s our plan of attack?” Eyeball inquired.

 

“What are your orders, General?” Army inquired.

 

Jasper cringed at the word general, but she spoke, “The gems will be expecting me, so one of you has to go spy on them. Do any of you know the location of their base?”

 

“Oh, I do,” said Navy.

 

“Good, then I’m sending you on a reconnaissance mission to obtain information on their next move,” said Jasper.

 

“Should I take the warp pad?” Navy asked.

 

“Negative. Their warp pad is stationed inside their base; warping in would be suicide,” Jasper explained. “You’re gonna have to go there on foot.”

 

“I’m on it,” she replied. Then she was off.

 

“Do you have a ship nearby?” Jasper asked.

 

“Yes, we managed to land it successfully without damaging it any further,” said Army.

 

“Good, then I’ll need you to head back to it and see if you can find any useful equipment,” said Jasper.

 

“I’ll get right on it, General,” said Army as she made her way back to the Roaming Eye.

 

“You two are staying with me,” Jasper said to Doc and Eyeball.

 

“I’d be honored,” said Doc.

 

“Me too, but there’s something I need to know,” said Eyeball.

 

“What might that be?” Jasper asked.

 

“Since this “Steven” isn’t Rose Quartz, what are we gonna do with him?” asked Eyeball.

 

Jasper never thought about it. Despite having a connection to Rose Quartz, this Steven wasn’t the gem in-question and Jasper didn’t have any reason to hate him on a personal level. However, he was still affiliated with the Crystal Gems and that couldn’t be ignored.

 

“We’ll let the diamonds decide,” she replied.

 

**. . .**

 

(Back at the Strawberry Battlefield)

 

After Amethyst finished her explanation, the gems were completely speechless. Pearl was too shocked to think of the right words to describe what just transpired and Garnet was at a complete loss of words. After a moment of silence, Pearl finally spoke.

 

“So, let me get this straight,” she said. “You and Steven, spoke to a diamond; Pink Diamond?”

 

“Yep,” Amethyst replied, nervously.

 

“And you let out Jasper, the same gem that tried to kill Steven several times, without our permission?” Pearl inquired.

 

“Uh huh,” the quartz replied.

 

Pearl went on. “And you healed her corruption with a cure made from Steven’s blood?”

 

“Pretty much,” the quartz replied, apprehensively.

 

“Well, that would explain the bandages,” said Garnet as she started unraveling them.

 

“Garnet, what are you doing?” Steven asked from his position in her lap.

 

“Your injection wound healed three hours ago,” she replied, as she removed the bandages from his arm.

 

Sighing, Pearl turned in Peridot's direction and gave her a glare. “On a side note, you took a blood sample from him?”

 

“Hey, I followed the procedure accordingly and I did ask for his consent before I did it,” Peridot explained.

 

“He’s a child; you needed our consent before doing something like that,” said Pearl.

 

“Well, excuse me for not knowing that!!” Peridot exclaimed, folding her arms.

 

“I predict Pearl will make Peridot feel embarrassed,” said Padparadscha, eliciting a blush from the green gem.

 

“And Steven, what were you thinking?!” Pearl shouted. “Jasper could’ve killed you; what made you think this was a good idea?”

 

Before Steven could respond, Amethyst spoke first, “It wasn’t his fault!”

 

All heads turned in her direction.

 

“This was all my fault,” Amethyst said, tears filling her eyes.

 

Amethyst told gems about the events in the Beta Kindergarten, explaining what Jasper did to Ocean, Ocean’s potentially permanent corruption, and how she felt since she and Jasper were both Earth gems. By the end of her explanation, tears were rolling down her cheeks.

 

“Steven and the others told me that I was the better gem because I wanted to help Jasper, despite everything she’s done, but all I did was put Steven in danger. I-I’m sorry,” said Amethyst, tearfully.

 

Steven stood up and gently embraced his sister. Amethyst didn’t say anything, she just wrapped her arms around the child and held onto him as if her life depended on it.

 

As the two quartzes separated, Pearl got down on her knees, placed her hands on Amethyst’s cheeks, and wiped away her tears.

 

“Amethyst, you didn’t have to do all this to show you’re a better gem,” Pearl said, smiling.

 

“I didn’t?” she asked.

 

“Of course not,” said Garnet, smiling as she placed her hand on the quartz’s shoulder. “You’ve shown us over-and-over that you’re an amazing gem. You’re kind, you’re supportive, and you’re very brave. Rose would’ve been proud to see how far you’ve come.”

 

Amethyst smiled. “T-Thanks, guys.”

 

Suddenly, Pearl’s smile fell and her eyes widened as she lets out a gasp.

 

“What’s wrong, P?” Amethyst asked.

 

“Amethyst, your hair!” Pearl exclaimed.

 

“What about it?” she asked.

 

“Half of it changed color,” Pearl replied.

 

Amethyst looked at her reflection in a puddle, and sure enough, while the rest of her hair retained its usual color, Amethyst had developed two identical pink streaks, one hanging by her right cheek and the large bang that usually covered her left eye tinted a pink color, and the bottom half of her hair, just at the tips, had gained the same pink color.

 

“Well, this is new,” she said.

 

Meanwhile, Peridot was trying her best not to pass out. The green gem’s cheeks were heating up and her mouth was agape as she gazed at Amethyst’s new appearance.

 

 _“Stars, she’s even more beautiful than ever,”_ she thought to herself.

 

“Peridot?!” Pearl shouted.

 

The green gem immediately snapped out of her trance. “Uh, uh, y-yes?”

 

“Didn’t you hear us calling you? I was asking if you knew anything about this?” Pearl inquired.

 

“Well, not exactly. But, I do believe this has something to do with the fact that they were able to communicate with Pink Diamond through Steven’s dream,” Peridot explained. “Amethyst, when Pink Diamond saw you and Steven, how did she react?”

 

“Well, she was very nice to Steven and she treated me the same way Garnet treated Steven when he was three years old,” said Amethyst. “She said she loves me.”

 

This new revelation elicited a surprised gasp from the gems, except for Padparadscha, who gasped after ten seconds.

 

“An affectionate diamond? Impossible,” said Peridot.

 

“I have to agree with Peridot on this one. That must’ve been a ruse,” said Pearl.

 

“Diamonds are known for their deception. She’s obviously lying,” Garnet added.

 

“Oh, yeah. Well, she told me that Rose didn’t shatter her,” the purple gem said.

 

Garnet and Pearl were both shocked by this news.

 

“What?” said Pearl.

 

“If her nice personality was just an act, then she wouldn’t have told me that; she would’ve just let Rose take the fall,” said Amethyst. “She told me that one of the diamonds were responsible.”

 

“Those monsters!!” Pearl shouted, angrily. “This whole time, they blamed my Rose for their horrific crime. Desecrating her name just to cover for their own treasonous act.”

 

“Pearl, calm down,” said Garnet, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Right now, there's nothing we can do about that. We need to focus on getting Steven medical attention. Lapis should be back with the first aid kit right about now.”

As if on cue, Lapis flew toward the gems with the first aid kit. “Okay, guys, I got the medical supplies.”

 

“Oh, good. Steven, move your hand, we’re gonna try to cauterize the wound,” said Pearl.

 

Steven nodded and removed his hand from his shoulder. When he did, the skin underneath the gash emanated a pink glow, outlining his veins. After a good five seconds, the cut on his shoulder sealed itself up, much to the astonishment of the gems and Connie.

 

“Oh my god, Steven, how did you do that?” asked Connie.

 

“I don’t know,” he replied.

 

“I think I can answer that,” said Peridot. “I believe that the heal properties in Steven’s blood must’ve enhanced his body’s cellular repair function. He basically has a healing factor now.”

 

“Was that why you needed his blood for the cure?” Pearl asked.

 

“Yes, in fact, I have three more vials of it in cold storage. Steven told me he needed them for something called a Centipeedle,” Peridot explained. “You see, Jasper was just a trial run. Now that we know that the cure works, we can create more of it.”

 

“Keep those vials on cold storage, because I’m shutting this whole operation down…”

 

“Unless, we’re there to supervise,” said Garnet, cutting Pearl off.

 

“Garnet?” Pearl replied.

 

“This is what Rose would’ve wanted; it’s what Steven wants,” said the fusion.

 

Pearl sighed. “Very well then.”

 

Steven had stars in his eyes as he gave one of his signature toothy grins. Garnet smiled knowing that her Steven was happy.

 

“I predict Steven will gain a healing factor. Oh, how marvelous,” said Padparadscha.

 

Garnet’s attention immediately turned to the off-colored sapphire.

 

“I almost forgot about you,” Garnet said, smiling as she pets the sapphire’s head. “What’s your name, cutie?”

 

After a five second pause, she replied,” I’m Padparadscha Sapphire, I was labeled defective due to my delayed visions.”

 

“Garnet, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” said the fusion, holding her hand out. After ten seconds, Padparadscha kindly shook it.

 

“Is it true what they say? Are you really a fusion between a ruby and a sapphire?” she asked. In an instant, Garnet’s form was enveloped in a bright light and she split into two separate gems.

 

“Does this answer your question?” asked Ruby with a cheeky grin.

 

“Ruby? Is it really necessary for you to show off in front of the newbie?” Sapphire asked, smirking.

 

Padparadscha’s mouth was agape as she was beyond astonished. “Oh, my stars! This is extraordinary! Fluorite and Rhodonite would’ve loved to meet you!”

 

“And I think I would’ve loved to meet them,” said Sapphire. “Oh, and someone was really worried about you.”

 

On cue, Ocean Jasper nuzzled the sapphire’s arm, letting out concerned whimpers. “Padpa?”

 

Turning around, Padparadscha gently stroked her mane.

 

“Shhh, it’s okay, Ocean,” she said, pressing a kiss to Ocean’s forehead. “I’m alright.”

 

Ocean sighed remorsefully before writing her response in the ground.

 

“Oh, no, you don’t have to apologize. You tried your best to stop Jasper,” the sapphire said.

 

Unfortunately, this did nothing to change Ocean’s depressed demeanor.

 

Steven simply stared on until an idea popped inside his head. He picked up a strawberry the size of a basketball and presented it to Padparadscha.

 

“Try giving her this. I did something similar with the Centipeedle,” He said. The sapphire took the strawberry and presented it to Ocean Jasper. After sniffing it for a good few seconds, the corrupted gem devoured the large fruit in one gulp. Everyone waited for her reaction with bated breaths.

 

“Ocean, are you ...WOAH!!” Padparadscha was cut off by Ocean Jasper tackling her. The sapphire laughs to her heart’s content as the canine gem starts licking her face.

 

“Aaaawww!!” cooed the gems and Connie.

 

After a few good seconds, Ocean allowed Padparadscha to get up and she gasps.

 

“Oh my, I predict a ship will land in front of the temple,” said Padparadscha, earning gasps from her teammates.

 

“When will it land?” Ruby inquired.

 

“Thirty seconds ago,” she replied, causing Peridot to panic.

 

“I knew it! It’s happening! They’ve finally come for me!” she exclaimed.

 

“Why would they be after you?” Bismuth asked.

 

“I called Yellow Diamond a clod right to her face,” Peridot explained.

 

“Woah, really?” asked Bismuth. “Stars, I wish I could’ve been there to see the look on her face. I bet it was priceless.”

 

“You have no idea,” said Amethyst.

 

“Excuse me, but I think we should be focused on the fact that we could be under attack,” said Pearl.

 

“I predict a group of Prime and Beta quartzes will enter the house carrying a tied-up, whining agate,” said Padparadscha.

 

Hearing this, Amethyst gasps joyfully, a wide smile spreading across her face. “Paddy, would these quartzes happen to have a defective carnelian with them?”

 

After a ten second pause, she replied, “Why, yes.”

 

Amethyst lets out an excited shriek. “REALLY?! THEY’RE ACTUALLY HERE?! OH, MY GOD, I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! I’LL SEE YOU GUYS BACK AT THE TEMPLE!”

 

And with that, she ran at high speeds to the warp pad, leaving behind a huge dust trail.

 

“Wha… how did… when did?” Pearl was completely astonished by Amethyst’s newly acquired speed. Meanwhile, Ruby and Sapphire fused back into Garnet.

 

“Well, we’re not gonna get anymore answers if we’re just standing here. Let’s go gems,” she said as she and the others made their way to the warp pad. Lapis was about to join them when she felt Bismuth grab her by the arm.

 

“What are you doing?” she asked the blacksmith.

 

“I recognized your gem. You were there during the war,” Bismuth explained.

 

“What? How did you know that?” Lapis asked. Suddenly, she caught sight of Bismuth’s gem and everything started coming back to her. “Oh my stars, it’s you. Y-you were the gem that attacked me!”

 

As she spoke, nearby puddles started rippling at a fast rate.

 

“Listen, Lapis, I didn’t know. I thought you were a threat,” Bismuth explained.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry, did me trying to run away give you the impression that I was gonna attack someone!” Lapis shouted, clenching fists. As she spoke, her eyes took on a mirror-like appearance and large puddles rose from the ground and formed large water orbs.

 

“Lapis, please! I did a lot of things during the war that I wasn’t proud of. I should’ve listened to reason instead of just assuming you were a threat. I’m sorry,” Bismuth pleaded.

 

Lapis’s eyes returned to normal and the puddles returned to the ground.

 

“For Steven’s sake, I’ll let it go for now,” she said. “But, we will discuss this later.”

 

And with that, they soon joined the other gems on the warp pad.

 

**. . .**

 

(Outside of Earth’s atmosphere, on the Sun Incinerator)

 

Soaring through the cold depths of outer space, the Sun Incinerator was making it’s way toward the Earth. In the ship’s cockpit, Aquamarine was tinkering away with the ship’s navigation system and updating the files it had on gem related locations on Earth. She and Topaz had recently made a stop to the Earth’s Moon Base to retrieve any necessary files that might prove useful during their mission to Earth. Even though the base’s monitor was destroyed, Aquamarine managed to find a data drive in what was left of it.

 

Aquamarine sighed as she stared at a hologram of what the Earth colony would’ve looked like if it had been completed.

 

 _“No wonder the diamonds want those crystal dullards shattered. This Earth colony would’ve been great,”_ she thought. The door to the cockpit opened and Topaz entered the room.

 

“Ah, Topaz, it’s about time. Are the Off-Colors secured?” Aquamarine inquired.

 

“Yes, they’re all contained in the holding cells,” the fusion replied.

 

“Did they show any signs of resistance?” Aquamarine inquired.

 

“Well, the Lars said that it’s past your bedtime and toddlers get cranky if they don’t get their sleep,” said Topaz.

 

Aquamarine’s left eye twitched as she gritted her teeth.

 

**. . .**

 

In the ship’s prison area, the Off-Colors sat patiently in their cells, except for a panicking Rhodonite, when the intercoms turned on.

 

“Listen here you filthy human, if I hear you make one more comment, I’m gonna have you thrown out the airlock!!” shouted Aquamarine, angrily over the intercom. While the others were confused by the blue gem’s sudden outburst, Lars simply smirked.

 

**. . .**

 

Aquamarine breathes heavily as she tries to compose herself. “Now then, Topaz, I know our original plan was to land outside the human settlement from our last mission, but the scanners have detected high gem activity in the Prime Kindergarten. There could possibly be more Crystal Gems. So, we’re gonna have to land in the Kindergarten and try to get information on Rose.”

 

“Understood,” the yellow gem replied.

 

Before she turned her attention back to the monitor, Aquamarine added one more statement. “Oh, and if you try to side with Rose again, I’ll see to it that both of your components are shattered. Do I make myself clear?”

 

“Y-Yes,” Topaz said, sadly as she tried to hold back tears.

**. . .**

 

(Back on Earth, at the Temple)

“So, this is their home?” Holly asked from her position on Steven’s bed.

 

“Apparently,” Skinny replied as she sat next to Carnelian on the couch.

 

“Looks completely archaic,” she stated. “I mean, seriously. The foundations don't look sturdy and the area looks small. Who are they defending against?”

 

“Ugh,” sighed Carnelian.

 

“What?” the agate asked.

 

“This place was obviously built to house and support the hybrid,” Carnelian explained.

 

“Well, it's safe to say that they succeeded in that front,” said Bee. “Nice view of the ocean, plenty of sun; they went all out for the hybrid.”

 

“Hold on, hybrid?” Holly inquired.

 

“What, we didn't tell you?” Chip asked.

 

“No, you didn't,” the agate replied, annoyed.

 

“Well, I’m sure the Crystal Gems will happily fill you in,” said Sharky.

 

“Speaking of which,” Jay went on. “Remember, these gems are anti-diamonds, they’re against Homeworld’s hierarchy, and they don’t share the diamond’s hatred of cross-fusions. So, don’t say something offensive that’ll piss them off.”

 

“Yeah, because as funny as it would be, I don’t think you’ll like the idea of getting kicked out by a pearl,” said Carnelian, giggling.

 

Holly cringed at the thought.

 

Suddenly, the warp pad activated and when the light faded, the Crystal Gems appeared and the Famethyst were met with the smiling face of their youngest sister.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Okay, guys, next time, we’ll see Amethyst bond with her sisters and the gems will receive a message from someone who knows more about Amethyst than they expected. Also, Pink Diamond pays Steven and Amethyst another visit and we finally get to find out where Leggy landed. Until next time guys, bye.


	11. Famethyst Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Famethyst are back together and we get some info on Leggy's whereabouts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Hey, guys. I know it’s been a long time since I’ve last updated, but don’t worry the story’s not dead. It’s just that school has been absolute hell. Plus, my co-author/editor has been absent for a few months so I had a few difficulties getting this chapter. Thankfully, UsernamesAreForWeaklings (AO3) was nice enough to fill in for him to get this chapter done. And don’t worry, the next chapter is most likely gonna be short, so it shouldn’t take long to get it done. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the new chapter.
> 
> Hey people I'm Annie the Co-Co(nut?) author/editor thingy (aka usernames are for weaklings). Glad to be here and to be helping with this genius story, so I guess I'll see you in the comments (?)   
> Byeeee

Amethyst rushed forward and wrapped her arms around Skinny's torso. The orange gem smiled and returned the embrace.

 

"I can't believe you guys are actually here," Amethyst said, excitedly.

"Glad to see you too, sis," replied Skinny, hugging her little sister tighter.

 

"Hey, don't hog her!” Jay said as she, Ellie, and Sharky joined in.

 

"Hello? Your favorite sister is still waiting for her hug," said Carnelian as she embraced the purple gem. Soon, the Famethyst had completely enveloped their smaller counterpart in a group hug. Amethyst looked over Jay's shoulder and caught a glance at Steven, who was smiling at her sister's display of affection.

 

"Hey, Steven? Wanna join in?" she asked, eliciting a gasp from the child.

 

"Really?" he said, overjoyed, stars in his eyes.

 

"Yeah, I want all my siblings in on the hug," Amethyst said, holding her arms out.

 

"Bring it in, squirt," said Jay.

 

Excited, Steven rushed forward and joined the hug. 

 

"I thought I'd never see you guys again. I can't believe you're actually here," exclaimed Amethyst. "What made you come?"

 

"Well, um, let's just say Carnelian had a little… uh... disagreement with management," Sharky explained, smiling.

 

Holly coughed in response. "Um, Hello? 'Management' was told she'd be untied when we got to this planet," Holly whined, struggling in the chains.

 

"Hey, it's been five thousand years. Let us have this," said Jay as she squeezed Amethyst tighter.

 

"Wait, so Holly 'Butt' Agate gave Carnelian a hard time and you still brought her with you?" Amethyst cocked her head to the side.

 

"Heheheh, yeah. But we came to an understanding during the ship ride here," Skinny replied, chuckling at Amethyst's wordplay.

 

"Yes, and I would appreciate it if you would refrain from uttering such a… a vulgar word!" said Holly. “Especially not in my name.”

 

"Oh, calm down,  _ Avatar _ . Don't they have jokes on  _ Pandora _ ?" Amethyst jeered.

 

Steven and Connie laughed at the gem's sick burn.

 

“Wait, if you guys cleared things up with her, then what made you still wanna come here?" asked Amethyst.

 

Ellie smiled. "You."

 

"Yeah, sis,” said Jay. “We love you, and we wanted to be here with you,"

 

Amethyst mouth was agape and her eyes sparkled as a wide smile spread across her face.  _ “They escaped… just to see her?” _ Unbeknownst to them, Amethyst’s gem started glowing. It wasn’t until Carnelian looked down that they realized this.

 

“Um, guys? Why are we floating?” she asked.

 

The Famethyst looked around and sure enough, they were floating a good twelve feet off the floor and they were surrounded by a purple aura. They then noticed Amethyst’s gem glowing.

 

“Sis, are you doing this?” Chip asked.

 

“Heh, heh, sorry. This has been going on all day,” said Amethyst as her gem stopped glowing and they were gently brought back to the floor.

 

“What do you mean all day?” Ellie asked as they separated from the hug.

 

“Well, strange things have been happening and somehow I keep getting these weird new abilities,” Amethyst explained.

 

“Does that explain why part of your hair is a different color?” Skinny inquired, gesturing to the pink streak covering her left eye.

 

“Yep,” Amethyst replied. “Well, at least I think so,”

 

“What?! No fair! I want a colored streak too!” Carnelian whined, folding her arms.

 

“Dude? Can’t you just phase one in?” asked Amethyst.

 

Carnelian did just that; but after five seconds, she phased it away. “Nah, it works better with you.”

 

Suddenly, a white ball of light appeared in the middle of the room, giving off a bright glow.

 

“Woah! What is that?” asked Steven.

 

In an instant, a voice was heard from the ball of light.

 

“8XM!” it said.

 

“It knows who I am?” said Amethyst.

 

“You may not know who I am, but I know who you are,” it said. “I was there when your gem was being created, I was there when your gem was injected, and just recently, I was there when you came to the Kindergarten looking for answers. I am Petalite.”

 

“What was happening when my gem was being made? How am I getting all these powers? How is Pink Diamond able to speak to me through my mind?” Amethyst asked.

 

“I know you have a lot of questions and I promise to tell you everything, but first I request your assistance. Ivy needs you,” said Petalite. At the mention of her old friend, Jay perked up.

 

“Ivy?!” Jay exclaimed, eyes widening in hope. “Where is she?! What happened to her?! Is she alright?!”

 

“Hm, I beginning to see why she speaks so highly of you,” said Petalite.

 

“Hold on, whose Ivy?” Amethyst asked.

 

“She’s the peridot that helped in creating your gem. She was the only one as the creation of your gem was to be kept secret prior to Project Paragon,” Petalite explained.

 

“Project Paragon?” Amethyst asked.

 

“You’ll find out soon. Just know that your relationship with Pink Diamond is closer than you think,” said Petalite as the white light faded out.

 

“Peridot? What's a Petalite?” Steven asked.

 

“Petalites are messenger gems with the ability to allow their owners to broadcast psychic messages, like that one,” Peridot explained. “They're rarely seen around Homeworld. They're usually just kept in bubbles unless there's a power outage.”

 

“Forget about that! Ivy’s my friend, I have to save her!” said Jay, worriedly.

 

“Don't worry, Jay. We will,” said Amethyst.

 

“How? We don't even know where to find her,” said Carnelian.

 

“Actually, I have an idea where she might be,” said Steven.

 

“Lay it on us, Ste-man,” said Amethyst.

 

Steven takes out his phone. “Petalite said she saw us when we came to the Kindergarten. So, that means she must’ve been here.” Steven pulled up the photo of the Geo-Lab.

 

“The Geo-Lab? That’s actually accurate. Where did you guys find it?” Peridot inquired.

 

“In the center of the Kindergarten?” said Steven.

 

Peridot raised an eyebrow. “In the center?”

 

“Yeah, why?” asked Steven.

 

“Steven? On my way to Earth, my ship did a complete scan of the Prime Kindergarten. The scans didn't detect any structures at the center.” said Peridot as she pulled up an image of the Prime Kindergarten. “See? The scans highlighted the Kindergarten Control Room and four Geo-labs located at the four corners of the Kindergarten. But, it doesn't show any signs of… Wha--? Hey!?!”

 

Jay promptly snatched the tablet out of Peridot's grasp and randomly pushed a few buttons.

 

“You might wanna re-check your scans,” said Jay as she showed Peridot the image.

 

Flashing repeatedly on the screen, the image showed a highlighted point at the center. Peridot was completely baffled.

 

“Impossible,” said Peridot, retrieving her tablet. “This wasn't there when I checked it.

 

“That's because the new Era 2 scanners are permanently programmed to only to detect active bases,” Jay explained. “The setting can’t be overridden unless you know the right code. Luckily, I learned it four thousand years ago.”

 

“How do you know all this?” Peridot asked, intrigued.

 

“Ivy taught me these things during Era 1. In return, I offered her combat lessons,” Jay explained. “Then Era 2 came around and I decided to update myself on the new tech.”

 

Peridot clung onto Jay's leg and stared up at her with star-filled eyes.

 

“Teach me everything you know,” she said.

 

“Woah, take it easy, shorty,” said Jay, ruffling the green gem’s hair. “We’ll start tomorrow while we’re in the Kindergarten. It’s best if you learn through experience.”

 

“YES!!” Peridot shrieked, excitedly.

 

“Heh, nerds!” said Amethyst, earning herself a playful noogie.

 

“Excuse me, but can someone please untie me?!” Holly shouted.

 

“Geez, alright already,” Gina (8XG) grumbled.

 

“Oh, I’ll do it,” said Steven as he went up the stairs.

 

“Oh, give me a break,” scoffed Holly. “Look, human? I like the enthusiasm, but I don’t think you can--.” She was cut off by Steven snapping the chains in half with a single pull.

 

“What the!?! Impossible!!” the agate exclaimed, shocked.

 

“Well, there you go,” said Steven.

 

“Um, thanks, I guess-- YEEOOOWW!!!” Holly hissed at the burning pain in her leg as she fell to the floor. “Forgot my leg was broken.”

 

“Ooo, I can fix that,” Steven said, licking his hand.

 

“Eew! That’s disgusting! You are not touching me with that!” Holly shouted. Out of nowhere, Chip and Sharky grabbed both her arms and legs and held down. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!”

 

“Do it! Do it!” the two quartzes chanted.

 

“DON’T YOU DARE!!!” Holly shouted.

 

Steven planted his hand on Holly’s leg, causing her to cringe in disgust. In a matter of seconds, the saliva gave off a pink glow before dissipating and the agate’s leg was completely healed.

 

“How did you do that?” the agate asked, astonished.

 

“I'm only half-human. I'm a gem on my mom's side,” Steven explained.

 

“Mom?” Holly inquired, raising her eyebrow.

 

“Rose Quartz,” he answered.

 

“But, gems can’t reproduce,” said Holly.

 

“Yeah, well she did,” said Amethyst

 

“He’s the hybrid we were telling you about,” said Carnelian.

 

“But, how?” Holly asked.

 

Before anyone could answer, there was a knock at the door.

 

“I’ll get it,” said Steven as he went down the stairs. When he opened the door, Dr. Maheswaran was standing patiently in front of the doorway.

 

“Oh, hi Dr. Maheswaran,” said Steven.

 

“Hello, Steven. I’m here to pick up Connie,” she explained.

 

“Coming, mom,” said Connie, walking to her mother’s side. “Sorry I haven’t called. Today’s mission took a lot longer than expected.”

 

“It’s okay, Connie,” said Priyanka. She then looks toward the Famethyst. “Um… Connie? Who are these women?”

 

“Oh, there uh… more of Steven’s relative,” Connie replied, sheepishly. “They’re from Amethyst’s side of the family.”

 

“Sup,” said Carnelian.

 

“Oh, I see,” the doctor said. “Well, anyways, it’s time to go.”

 

“Bye, Steven,” the girl said, leaving with her mother.

 

“Bye, Connie,” said Steven as he closed the door.

 

“So what are we gonna do, Garnet?” Pearl asked.

 

“Well, if this Petalite is located somewhere in the Prime Kindergarten, then that’s where we’ll start tomorrow,”  the fusion explained. “But, half of us will have to stay here in case Jasper comes back.”

 

“JASPER!?!” shouted the betas

 

“She’s here?” one of the jaspers inquired.

 

“Yeah, she is. Is there something wrong?” Pearl asked.

 

“We never wanted to see that hot-headed bully ever again,” Bee replied, angrily. “She was always going on about how she came out better than we did.”

 

“Yeah, and let’s not forget she always picks on the gems that didn’t come out right,” said a jasper with a gem on her shoulder.

 

“Wow, so the things she said to me had nothing to do with the fact that I’m a crystal gem. Jasper’s just always been a jerk,” Amethyst said, frowning as she folded her arms. This did not go unnoticed.

 

“She treated you the same way, didn’t she?” Carnelian asked, frowning.

 

“Just say the word and I’ll hunt her down myself,” Jay said, angrily.

 

Amethyst’s expression darkened. “I don’t wanna talk about it right now.”

 

The others immediately got the idea. Carnelian hugs her smaller counterpart.

 

“You poor thing,” said the red quartz. Amethyst was confused at first, but then she just went with it and returned the embrace.

 

“At least you only had to deal with her insults,” said Carnelian.

 

“She poofed me during one of our fights,” Amethyst clarified. The sound of large footsteps and grunting could be heard as the other quartzes struggled to keep Jay from making a mad dash to the warp pad with a purple war hammer in her hand.

 

“That's nothing compared to what she did to me,” said the red gem, frowning.

 

“Wait?” Amethyst said, pulling back from the hug. “What did she do to you?”

 

Carnelian sighed. “I couldn’t take it anymore. It wasn’t fair that she was treating us this way. So, I stood up to her. I told her that we’re all on the same side and we came from the same soil and she needs to stop treating us like garbage.”

 

“And what did she say?” Amethyst asked.

 

“She said if she did that, then she might as well start treating pearls like actual gems,” Carnelian replied.

 

“Hey!?!” Pearl exclaimed, offended.

 

“Her words; not mine,” the red gem clarified.

 

“Typical elite soldiers,” Bismuth scoffed.

 

“What happened next?” Steven asked.

 

“You have no idea how much it hurt when she said that,” Carnelian said. “I asked her what was wrong with her and why does she have to be such a jerk all the time? Guess what she said?”

 

“What?” Amethyst asked.

 

“She said there’s nothing wrong with her and the only thing that’s wrong is that a ‘perfect’ quartz emerged in a kindergarten with runts, defects, and off-colors,” Carnelian explained.

 

“How did you respond?” Holly asked. Everyone turned to her with a look of confusion. “What? This story’s getting interesting.”

 

Before Carnelian could continue, Padparadscha piped up. “Now that’s just plain rude. There’s nothing wrong with associating with off-colors.”

 

“Again, her words; not mine,” said Carnelian. “So anyway, I told her if that’s how you felt, then why don’t you just leave and join Yellow’s court. After all, she’s the only who would want to keep an egotistic, ill-tempered war machine.” The sound of Peridot laughing could be heard in the background.

 

“Geez, sis,” said Amethyst.

 

“Oh, I didn’t stop there,” said the red quartz. “I told Jasper that she would be better off with Yellow Diamond because Pink is a caring and loving diamond and having a hot-headed, jerk-faced bully in her court is only gonna ruin her reputation.”

 

“What happened after that?” asked Amethyst.

 

Carnelian hesitated, but then she sighed. “She attacked me.”

 

Every gem in the room, except the betas, was taken back by this new information.

 

“The hits just kept coming and I couldn’t keep up. I barely had time to react before Jasper landed another punch,” said Carnelian. “Then after she threw me into another wall, I started feeling weak and what I saw next was horrible.”

 

"What did she do?" Amethyst asked.

 

Carnelian was silent for a moment, but then she answered. "She cracked me."

 

Everyone in the room gasped, except for Padparadscha, who gasped after ten seconds.

 

“She what!?!” Amethyst snarled.

 

“What happened next?” Jay asked.

 

Carnelian looked in the upper right direction. The others followed her train of view until they were all staring at the portrait of Rose Quartz.

 

“She happened.”

 

**. . .**

 

**(5000 years ago; Beta Kindergarten)**

 

_ “Go ahead! Do it, Ultimate Quartz!” Carnelian spat, tears filling her eyes as Jasper kept her beaten form pinned to the ground. All of a sudden, Jasper gets tackled by a large, brown lion. While she dealt with her attacker, Carnelian’s blurred vision spotted a familiar looking pink quartz approaching her. _

 

_ Rose gently inspected the smaller quartz’s injuries. Her gaze faltered when Carnelian’s small form started glitching, eliciting a series of strained grunts from the small gem. When it stopped, Rose’s eyes landed on Carnelian’s gem. The red stone was covered in a large series of cracks and it looked like it was on the verge of shattering. _

 

_ “Stars!” Rose whispered. The pink quartz looked at the smaller gem with a look of concern. “Are you alright, dear?” _

 

_ Carnelian didn’t know if it was because of the concussion, her searing headache, or the ringing in her ears, but she could’ve sworn she heard the slightest hint of worry in her tone. Nevertheless, she replied, “Y-yes.” _

 

_ “Who did this to you?” Rose asked. _

 

_ “ROSE!!!” _

 

_ Rose turned to the sound of her name and glared daggers at Jasper. “Why am I not surprised?” _

 

_ “You need to stay out of this; this doesn’t concern you!” Jasper shouted, angrily. _

 

_ Rose gently placed Carnelian back down and stood up. “When an elite soldier is picking on a defenseless gem, it is my business.” Her glare then hardens. “And if you have a problem with that, you can answer to me.” _

 

_ “With pleasure!!” Jasper hissed, pulling out two axes and summoning her crash helmet. _

 

_ She pounced at Rose; but before she could land a hit, she was rammed from the side by the same lion from earlier. Just as she was getting up, the lion launched itself at her and latched itself to her torso before raining down a series of scratches and bites. As Jasper tried to fend off her furry opponent, Rose carefully placed Carnelian into a nearby exit hole. _

 

_ “Stay here. I’ll be right back,” Rose said, reassuringly. Carnelian nodded as Rose rushed over to Jasper, unsheathing her sword and summoning her shield. Jasper had just managed to pry off her opponent and throw him into a wall before she turned around just in time to see Rose Quartz heading straight for her. _

 

_ Jasper charged toward Rose and swung one of her axes at the pink quartz. Rose slid under the advancing weapon and slashed her sword at Jasper’s back before slamming her shield into the back of her head, sending the orange gem face-first into the ground. Jasper recovered immediately and raised both axes before bringing them down toward the pink quartz, who promptly shields herself with herself with her sword. The other betas just stood to the sidelines and watched as the fight went on. _

 

_ As their blades clashed, Jasper spoke up. “Why are you doing this, Rose? She’s just a weak, defective runt; no one’s gonna care about her. She doesn’t deserve anybody’s sympathy.” _

 

_ As she pushed back with her sword, Rose answered. “Homeworld might not care…” she paused, reeling back her shield. “But, I do!” She strikes Jasper with an uppercut to the chin. The quartz’s blades flew out of her hands as the hit sent her hurtling smack into the top of a nearby cliff face before landing face-down into the ground, followed by a few small boulders that landed on her back. _

 

_ Jasper had just dug herself out when she looked up and saw Rose advancing toward her with her sword. Jasper stood up instantly and as Rose swung her sword, Jasper grabbed her wrist and hurled her toward a wall. Rose gracefully landed her feet against the wall's surface before launching herself toward the mountainous quartz. As she got closer, she summoned her shield and struck Jasper in the face, bringing the quartz to the ground. _

 

_ As Jasper got back up, she was greeted by a series of snarls. She looked up to see another male lion that looked like the one from earlier, except it looked younger. It was accompanied by a lioness with light brown fur. The two large felines growled at the quartz and Jasper growled back. _

 

_ Jasper charged at the felines and as she was about to strike, they jumped out of her path. The male jumped forward and latched onto the quartz’s back before sinking his teeth into her shoulder. Jasper hissed in pain as she threw punches at the lion’s face, who seemed to be unaffected as he clawed at the quartz’s back. During the struggle, Jasper catches a glimpse of the lioness charging right toward her. Using this to her advantage, Jasper pried the male lion off her back and hurled him toward the lioness, sending them both to the ground. _

 

_ Before Jasper could react, Rose’s shield strikes her from the side and sends her a good distance away. Jasper immediately got back up and retrieved her axes before leaping at the pink quartz. Rose easily blocked Jasper’s blades with her own as the orange quartz started swinging them at her at a rapid pace, with Rose blocking each swing with her sword and shield, even going as far as to swing her shield so hard that it knocked one of the axes out of the quartz’s hand. At one point, Jasper rams her helmet into Rose’s shield; however, as Jasper pushed against her opponent’s shield, Rose summoned a second shield and slammed it into the orange quartz’s helmet. _

 

_ The vibrations from the initial impact completely stunned Jasper and shattered her visor. This left the orange quartz vulnerable as Rose’s sword slashed her across the cheek before she was met with a roundhouse kick to the face that sent her hurtling sideways. Jasper dug her feet into the ground as she skids to a stop in front of a nearby cliff face. She placed her hand on the cut on her left cheek and hissed before turning her attention back to Rose. Growling, she twirled the axe around a few times before hurling it at the pink quartz. Rose tried to block it with her sword, but the impact from the axe knocked the pink blade out of her grip. Rose watched in utter shock as the sword flew out of her reach and the tip of the blade plunged into the ground. _

 

_ When she turned her gaze back to her opponent, she was met with the sight of Jasper’s spin-dash heading straight for her. While she managed to block the attack with her shield, the impact sent her hurtling toward a nearby Injector hanging off the edge of a cliff. Rose formed a bubble around herself as she collided with the Injector, knocking it off the edge as Rose’s bubble fell back to the ground, with the large mechanism landing behind it. _

 

_ As Rose dissipated her bubble, she was met with the sight of Jasper heading straight for her. But just as the orange quartz was about to reach her opponent, she gets rammed from the side by another male lion. Rose watched the mountainous quartz struggle against the feline predator moments before three lionesses rushed past her to aid the male lion, with one of them handing her back her sword. _

 

_ While Jasper was fending off the male lion, she managed to catch a glimpse of the three lionesses. Using her full strength, Jasper pried the large feline off her torso and hurled him into one of the lionesses, sending them both to the ground. _

 

_ The two remaining lionesses pounced toward the orange quartz. But before they could get any closer, Jasper caught them by their necks and slammed them into each other, rendering them unconscious. _

 

_ Jasper turned her attention back to Rose, who came hurtling down toward the orange quartz with her sword raised, preparing to deliver an aerial attack. But as the pink quartz closed in on her opponent, Jasper punched her directly in the stomach. Rose winced in pain and her sword flew out of her hand as she fell to the ground. _

 

_ A toothy, evil grin spread across Jasper’s face as Rose tried to pick herself back up only for the orange quartz to lift her off the ground by the back of her collar and throw her face-first into a nearby wall, cracking it in the process. Disoriented from the attack, Rose couldn’t react in time as she turned around and was greeted by Jasper grabbing her by the throat and pinning her to the wall before raining down a repeated barrage of punches on her stomach, with Rose yelping in pain from each one. _

 

_ Through her blurred vision, Carnelian watched in utter terror as Rose Quartz was tortured by the same gem that nearly ended her existence. _

 

_ “She tried to help me and now she’s gonna die for it,” the red gem thought. Suddenly, a glint of light shone into her eyes. Turning to the source, her eyes landed on one of Jasper’s axes reflecting sunlight at her in front of the exit hole. _

 

_ “It must’ve landed here after Rose knocked it out of Jasper’s hand,” Carnelian thought. The sound of Rose’s pained scream brought the red gem back to reality. _

 

_ Carnelian looked up just in time to see Jasper deliver a final devastating punch to Rose's torso, eliciting another pained scream from the pink quartz before she was whirled around and thrown into the ground. Before Rose could get back up, Jasper slammed her crash helmet into her stomach, just above her gem. Rose grasped her stomach in pain as Jasper phased off her helmet. Jasper raised her foot over Rose's gem and brought it down, only to be met by the smooth surface of her shield. Unfortunately due to her current injuries, Rose barely had enough strength left to keep Jasper’s foot at bay. _

 

_ With what little strength she had left, Carnelian began to slowly pick herself up off the ground, using the wall to support her as she made her way to the fallen weapon. She let out a hiss and her physical form glitched as pain erupted through her body with each step. Just as she approached the axe, her leg glitched and she fell face-first into the ground. _

 

_ Fighting back the pain from her injuries, and the pain from the fall, Carnelian reached out and grabbed the handle of the axe. _

 

_ “You’re only delaying the inevitable, Rose. Surrender now, and I’ll make this quick,” said Jasper as she applied more pressure to the shield, putting a few cracks in it. _

 

_ “Never!” Rose shouted. _

 

_ Grunting in frustration from the pain, Carnelian stood up clumsily and raised the axe over her head. She reeled the weapon back and threw it at the orange quartz, falling and landing on her stomach as her physical form glitched from the physical strain. _

 

_ “Fine. Have it your… GYAAAHHHH!!” Jasper was cut off by the axe getting launched into her leg that wasn’t on Rose’s shield. This caused her to lose her balance and fall to the ground, her other foot leaving Rose’s shield. _

 

_ Turning in the direction the axe was thrown from, Rose saw that her savior was the same Carnelian that she was trying to rescue. She gave the red gem a warm smile and mouthed a thank you. The right side of Carnelian’s face glitched, but she smiled back. _

 

_ When Jasper finally managed to remove the axe from her leg and get back to her feet, Rose formed a bubble around herself and expanded it, sending the quartz flying. When she landed, the orange quartz barely had enough time to retrieve her axe before something slashed her across the face, stunning her and leaving a huge claw mark on her left cheek as she fell on all fours. _

 

_ Through her blurred vision, Jasper saw the first lion that attacked her, who she immediately deduced to be the pride leader due to his older appearance. The feline roared and charged at the orange quartz. _

 

_ Frustrated and angered beyond all comprehension, Jasper stood up and summoned her crash helmet. As the lion was nearing his prey, Jasper smacked her helmet across his jaw, knocking him down on his side. The lion quickly regained his footing and attempted to slash the quartz across the face, only for Jasper to grab his arm at the last second and bend it back until a loud snapping sound was heard, eliciting a pained roar from the feline before throwing him into a boulder. _

 

_ The lion barely had enough time to get back up before Jasper pinned him to the ground and started pummeling him. Carnelian watched in horror as Jasper brutally beat the poor feline into submission. She winced every time she heard the feline’s pain growls along with the sound of bones breaking. _

 

_ Carnelian’s eyes widened as Jasper grabbed the defenseless lion by the throat and threw him into a wall, cracking it before landing in front of Carnelian’s exit hole. Jasper retrieved her axes and made her way to the weakened feline. _

 

_ “This is what happens when you get in my way,” said the orange quartz, raising both of her blades before bringing them down. _

 

**_CLANG!!_ **

 

_ The sound of a metal clang resonated throughout the entire Kindergarten, as Jasper’s axes struck Carnelian’s mace. The resulting impact sent the red gem tumbling to the ground, her entire form glitching as her mace fell out of her hand and phased out of existence. _

 

_ Jasper stared at the smaller quartz, eyes widened in disbelief and shock. She dropped both her axes and slowly reached toward the red gem. _

 

_ Panic filled her mind as Carnelian squeezed her eyes shut, tears rolling down her cheeks as she waited for her imminent shattering. When it didn’t come, she opened eyes and beheld the scene in front of her. _

 

_ Jasper’s hand was only one inch away from her. The orange quartz’s mouth was agape and her eyes were widened. But what really got the red gem’s attention was the pink blade sticking out of Jasper’s chest along with Rose standing behind the orange quartz tightly gripping her sword handle, keeping the blade lodged into her opponent’s back. _

 

_ “Next time, I won’t be so merciful,” Rose whispered to Jasper before pulling the sword out, poofing the orange quartz in the process. Rose sheathed her sword and turned to the other Betas. “If you know what’s best, you better not try anything.” _

 

_ Rose made her way toward Carnelian and got down on her knees. She placed her hands on the red gem’s cheeks and wiped away her tears before giving her a warm smile and embracing the smaller gem. _

 

_ “Rest now,” Rose said, stroking Carnelians mane. “You’re gonna be alright.” _

 

_ That was the last thing the red gem heard before her vision faded to darkness. _

 

**. . .**

 

“Woah! Mom saved you!” Steven exclaimed with stars in his eyes.

 

“In a way, yes,” Carnelian replied.

 

“Aiding a wanted criminal? I’m surprised the diamonds haven’t harvested you for treason,” said Holly.

 

“The diamonds didn’t know about it because none of us told them. Not even Jasper, but that was probably to protect her own reputation,” said Skinny. “Plus, Carnelian hasn’t been seen until the evacuation.”

 

“Yeah, but that raises another question: where were you, Carnie?” Bee asked.

 

“It’s a long story,” said the red gem.

 

“Well, then lay it on… Huh? Wait?” said Amethyst as she felt something run through her hair. Turning around revealed Peridot running her fingers through her mane. “Peri? What are you doing?”

 

Peridot blushed. “I-I-I figured we might, um, be here for a while and I wanted you to feel comfortable.”

 

“Aaaww, Peri. That’s sweet of you,” said Amethyst, smiling as she positioned herself so that she was laying down on Peridot’s lap.

 

“Okay, Carnie. You can continue,” she said as Peridot went back to stroking her long strands of hair, blushing as she enjoyed their soft texture.

 

Carnelian silently snickered at how Amethyst was completely oblivious to the green gem’s affection toward her. But then, she went on. “Okay, so here’s what happened.”

 

**. . .**

 

**(5000 years ago; Rose’s Fountain)**

 

_ When Carnelian opened her eyes, her whole world was tinged in pink. When she moved her arms around, she was surprised when she felt an invisible force push against her arms as they moved. But then, she instantly remembered the crack on her gem. Looking at her left shoulder, Carnelian was shocked to find that her gem was completely fixed. _

 

_ “What happened? Where am I? And why does everything feel wet?” Carnelian thought. She opened her mouth, only for a few bubbles to come out. Seeing this, the red gem was able to put two and two together. “Okay, so I’m in some type of pink liquid, but how did I get here? And why would Rose…. Wait, Rose!?!” _

 

_ Carnelian searched all over this new environment in search of the pink quartz. After searching for what seemed like hours, Carnelian was ready to just give up until she looked up and saw light coming in from above. The small quartz began swimming her way to the top in hopes of figuring out her location or at least finding Rose. _

 

_ When the red gem rose to the surface, gasping for air that she didn’t need, she took a moment to gather her bearings before her eyes landed on Rose Quartz and her pride of lions. _

 

_ “Oh, thank the stars, you’re finally awake,” said Rose, smiling as she helped the diminutive quartz out of the fountain. _

 

_ “Um, thanks. Listen, I’m grateful and all, but where exactly am I?” Carnelian asked, ringing her hair out. _

 

_ “This is my fountain; it’s where I go to heal injured or cracked gems,” the pink quartz explained. “I would’ve healed you back at Beta, but it would’ve taken too long to heal all of your injuries. I figured this would help you heal faster.” _

 

_ Nodding, Carnelian took a moment to take in her surroundings. The area was surrounded by a concrete wall with a star-shaped entrance, the floors were lined with pink roses, and the fountain itself was a statue of Rose surrounded by a pool of pink water, which poured out of the statue’s eyes. _

 

_ “Wow,” said Carnelian, astonished. _

 

_ “I take it you like the decorum?” Rose asked, smiling. _

 

_ “Oh, uuuhh, yeah… Sure,” Carnelian answered, blushing. _

 

_ “By the way, someone wanted to say thank you,” Rose added. As if on cue, Carnelian was tackled by a brown, furry blur. Looking up, the red gem immediately recognized the lion as the pride leader that was nearly killed by Jasper, who seemed to have recovered from the battle. Before she could say anything, Carnelian bursts into fits of giggles as the lion started licking her face, leaving trails of saliva across her cheeks. _

 

_ “AHHAHAHAHAHAHA - STOP IT - AHHAHAHAHA - IT TICKLES!!!” Carnelian pleaded through fits of laughter, only for the feline to ignore her and continue its display of affection. Rose mentally gushed at the adorable scene in front of her. _

 

_ “ROSE - AHHAHAHAHA - CALL HIM OFF - AHHAHAHAHAHA -  PLEASE!!!” Carnelian pleaded, laughing as the lion’s tongue went across her cheek. Silently chuckling to herself, Rose walked over to them and gently strokes the lion’s mane. _

 

_ “Okay, Lion, she’s had enough. You can stop now,” said Rose. The feline briefly nuzzled against the side of her dress before walking off to join the others. “Sorry about him. He tends to be a bit of a rascal at times.” _

 

_ The red gem nodded. He expression turned solemn before asking another question. “Why did you do it?” _

 

_ “Do what?” the pink quartz replied. _

 

_ “Why did you save me?” Carnelian asked. _

 

_ “Because, no gem deserves to be shattered just because they’re different,” Rose answered. _

 

_ “But why me?” the red gem asked, sadness in her tone. _

 

_ “What do you mean?” the pink quartz asked, concerned. _

 

_ “Why would you risk everything for a useless defect?” Carnelian asked, eyes welling up with tears. “What good is a quartz who can’t even hold her own in a fight?” _

 

_ Rose crouched down to Carnelian’s level. She wiped away her tears before planting a kiss on Carnelian’s forehead, shocking the red quartz in the process before embracing her. _

 

_ “Listen to me,” Rose said. “As far as I’m concerned, you are none of those things.” _

 

_ “But I lost. I didn’t stand a chance against Jasper,” said Carnelian, tearfully. _

 

_ “You might not have been able to defeat Jasper, but that doesn’t make you any less of a quartz,” said Rose. _

 

_ “How?” asked the red gem. _

 

_ “Well, if you hadn’t thrown that axe at Jasper, I most certainly wouldn’t have survived,” the pink quartz explained. “And if you hadn’t blocked Jasper’s strike, Lion would’ve been killed.” _

 

_ Carnelian blushed thinking about what she did. _

 

_ “And you did all this while your gem was cracked,” Rose said, smiling. “You may not be as strong as Jasper, but you have the bravery and courage of any quartz soldier.” _

 

_ Carnelian smiled and lets a single tear roll down her cheek as she returned the hug. _ __  
  


_ “Thank you,” she said. _

 

_ The two quartzes held the embrace for what felt like an hour before Rose pulled away. _

 

_ “C’mon. Let’s get you back to the Beta Kindergarten,” said Rose. _

 

_ “NO!” Carnelian shouted. _

 

_ Rose blinked in confusion. _

 

_ “Sorry. It’s just that I’m not ready to face the other betas; especially after what I just did,” said Carnelian. _

 

_ “I understand. Until then, would you like to stay with me?” the pink quartz asked. _

 

_ “I’d love to, but I don’t want the other crystal gems to know about me,” said Carnelian. _

 

_ “That’s okay. I can keep you hidden inside my room. What do you say?” Rose asked, holding out her hand. The red gem smiled and took her hand and the two quartzes made their way to the exit. _

 

**. . .**

 

A growl from Lion brought everyone's attention to the pink feline, who had his gaze directed at Carnelian. The red gem was confused at first, but then her eyes widened as she immediately recognized Lion.

 

“Ah, shards. Not again,” Carnelian whined as Lion tackled her and starts affectionately licking her face. “AHAHAHAHAHA - LION - AHHAHAHA - STOP IT!!”

 

Lion ignores her and continues, leaving trails of saliva on her cheeks.

 

“Okay, Lion. That’s enough,” said Steven, slightly giggling at Lion’s cute display of affection before scratching him behind the ear.

 

Lion relents and lets the red quartz get back up, nuzzling her as she wiped the saliva off her face.

 

“Nice seeing you again too, Lion,” said Carnelian, smiling. Lion purred in response.

 

“So, Rose has been hiding a Homeworld gem in the temple and we didn’t even know about it?” Pearl asked.

 

“Yep,” Carnelian answered.

 

“Stars,” Pearl whispered.

 

“Anywho, when the end of the war came around, Rose managed to get me to one of the ships during the retreat,” Carnelian said. “But before I left, I needed to know something.”

 

“What?” Steven asked.

 

“I overheard a few crystal gems talking about how Rose shattered Pink Diamond. I denied it at first, but then I decided to hear it from Rose,” Carnelian said.

 

“And what did she tell you?” Garnet asked.

 

“Yeah, Carnie. What did she say?” asked Skinny.

 

“She told me she didn’t do it,” she replied.

 

“Well, who did!?!” Holly asked, loudly.

 

“Hey, calm down,” said Jay.

 

“No! My diamond’s been mourning Pink’s death for eons and if this off-color knows the true culprit, then she should’ve confessed a long time ago!” Holly snapped before turning back to Carnelian. “Who did it!?!”

 

Hearing the agate insult her sister, Amethyst sent her a death glare.

 

Carnelian was silent at first, but then she spoke. “Rose couldn’t see the person, because they were disguised in a cloak. But, she said she could tell by their size that they were a diamond.”

 

“And why, pray tell, didn’t you tell someone!” Holly shouted. 

 

Amethyst grits her teeth and her eyes give off a pink glow.

 

_ “If this whore yells at my sister one more time, I swear I’m gonna beat her into a coma,” _ Amethyst thought.

 

“Rose told me not to,” the red gem explained. “She said the culprit would kill me if they knew I--WOAH!!” Carnelian was cut off by Holly grabbing her by the collar of her uniform and bringing her up to meet her glare.

 

“YOU UNGRATEFUL, SELFISH HUNK OF EARTH!!!” Holly roared at the diminutive quartz, who struggled to break out of the agate’s grip. “You let my diamond, the diamond who kept you and these other rejects alive, mourn for thousands of years. You could’ve told her the truth, showing her that you’re at least grateful for everything she’s done for you. But instead, you decided to hide this information from her just to preserve your own worthless--”

 

**POW!!**

 

Holly was cut off by a small, glowing, purple fist connecting with the side of her face, sending her flying into the bottom of the kitchen counter and knocking over a few stools.

 

Everyone gasped, except for Padparadscha, who gasped after ten seconds, and turned toward the attacker, revealing it to be Amethyst. The purple gem glared at Holly, her glowing pink eyes shooting daggers at the agate as she went toward her.

 

“Amethyst, don’t!” Steven exclaimed.

 

“Steven, let me handle this,” Amethyst said in a voice that the Famethyst knew too well.

 

Holly Blue Agate was so busy trying to nurse the large welt on her cheek that she didn’t have time to react when Amethyst grabbed her by her shirt collar and pinned her to the counter.

 

“Listen here you big-butt Smurf! You’re not gonna sit there and touch my sister in any type of way and get away with it! Because I have half a mind to kick your mountain-sized behind so hard that you land in another galaxy!” Amethyst shouted, terrifying the poor gem. “For five thousand years straight, you’ve treated my family like crap and ridiculed them countless times. They had every reason to leave you for dead. The only reason you’re alive is because they took pity on you. If it were up to me, I would’ve let Blue Diamond shatter you. But even then, that would be mercy compared to what I’d do to you. So here’s what’s gonna happen.”

 

Amethyst tightened her glare and Holly squirmed as she felt it pierce into her.

 

“You’re gonna apologize for everything you’ve put them through and you’re gonna thank them for not leaving you to your fate,” Amethyst threatened. “Did I make my myself clear?”

 

Holly was too paralyzed with fear to respond.

 

Losing her patience, Amethyst blasted a streak of purple electricity at a nearby stool, reducing it to ash in mere seconds, leaving everyone speechless and scaring Holly.

 

“I SAID DID I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!?!” she roared.

 

“Y-Yes, I-I understand,” Holly replied.

 

“Good,” said Amethyst before she hurled the agate into the living room table, splitting it in half.

 

Holly barely had enough time to recover before the purple quartz spoke up again.

 

“THE DIAMONDS MAY HAVE LET YOU GET AWAY WITH WHAT YOU DID, BUT YOU’RE ON MY TURF NOW! IF I EVER CATCH YOU HURTING MY FAMILY OR ANYONE ELSE, I’M GONNA BURY MY FOOT IN YOUR FAT--”

 

Garnet covered Steven’s ears before Amethyst spat out the curse word.

 

“Amethyst, watch your language,” Pearl scolded.

 

“SHUT UP, PEARL! I’M NOT GONNA HAVE SOME UPTIGHT HOMEWORLD GEM RUNNING AROUND ON MY PLANET, LOOKING DOWN ON PEOPLE THINKING THEY’RE BETTER THAN EVERYONE!!” Amethyst said. “FIRST PERIDOT, THEN JASPER, THEN AQUAMARINE, AND NOW THIS PRICK! NO WAY! I’M SHUTTING THAT DOWN RIGHT NOW!”

 

“Amethyst, calm down! This isn’t you!” Steven shouted. “You’re better than this!”

 

The sound of Steven’s voice brought her back to reality. Her eyes turned back to normal and she sighed.

 

“Pearl, I’m sorry. I-I didn’t mean to yell,” she said. Pearl smiled and embraced the small quartz.

 

“It’s okay, Amethyst. I know you didn’t mean it,” Pearl said, stroking the quartz’s mane. While this was happening, Amethyst turned to her attention to Holly and glared.

 

“Isn’t there anything you’d like to say to my sisters?” she asked, knowingly.

 

Holly turned toward the quartzes and without hesitation, she spoke. “I’m sorry for the way I treated you in the past and I promise it won’t happen again.”

 

“And?” Amethyst inquired.

 

“Thank you for not leaving me for dead,” she added.

 

“Hey, don’t sweat it, Holls,” said Carnelian.

 

When Pearl and Amethyst separated from the hug, Garnet decided to get back on topic.

 

“Okay, considering what just happened, finding this Geo-lab is now our top priority,” she said. “But with Jasper free, we can’t risk leaving Beach City unguarded. So, me, Bismuth, and Pearl will stay behind to protect the city.” Garnet turned toward Lapis and Peridot.

 

“Lapis? Peridot? For your own safety, you two will have to spend the night here. We can’t risk you being out there on your own while Jasper is loose,” the fusion explained.

 

The two gems nodded.

 

“But Garnet, who's gonna investigate the Kindergarten while we’re here?” Pearl inquired.

 

“I think the Shorty Squad has that covered,” she replied, smiling.

 

Steven, Peridot, and Amethyst were beyond ecstatic.

 

“Yeah, baby! The Shorty Squad is back!” Amethyst cheered. “Now including the addition of Padparadscha and Carnelian.”

 

“Glad to be a part of it,” said Carnelian, smiling.

 

“Oh, and Paddy? I’m sorry Jasper nearly made your first day on Earth your last. I’ll understand if you don’t want to come with us,” said Amethyst.

 

After a ten second delay, the sapphire smiled before she spoke, “Are you joking? This has been the greatest experience I’ve ever had.”

 

“Really?” Steven and Amethyst asked at the same time.

 

“Of course,” Padparadscha replied. “I got to see new places, learn new things, and I got to meet new friends. This whole experience has been marvelous and you two have been greatest friends I could ever ask for.”

 

“Aw, c’mere you cute, little peach,” Amethyst said, hugging the sapphire.

 

Peridot sent a jealous glare toward the orange sapphire.

 

_ “BACK OFF MY AMETHYST, YOU OFF-COLORED CLOD! SHE’S MINE!”  _ Peridot thought, angrily. The green gem’s jealous expression didn’t go unnoticed by Lapis, who casually smirked.

 

“Is someone getting jealous?” Lapis whispered, smugly.

 

A dark, green blush rose on Peridot’s cheeks. “W-What!?! No!”

 

“Oh, yeah? Then why are you giving Padparadscha the stink-eye? Are you afraid Amethyst is gonna fall for her because she’s cuter than you?” Lapis asked, playfully.

 

“No, because I’ve known Amethyst the longest; I have a better chance than some overcooked sapphire. And for the record, Padparadscha is not cuter than me,” the green gem stated, folding her arms.

 

Lapis sighed. “Look, Peri. All I’m saying is that you need to make your move fast; otherwise, you’re just gonna blow it.”

 

“But what if she’s not interested?” the green gem asked.

 

“You won’t know until you find out for yourself. You gotta be confident. Just like I am with Jamie,” said Lapis.

 

“Pffft, all you do is flirt with him to the point where he’s too fluster to speak,” said Peridot.

 

“I know. He’s cute when he’s shy,” said Lapis, dark, blue blush adorning her cheeks.

 

“Hey, what are you guys talking about over there?” Amethyst asked.

 

“Nothing!?!” Peridot said, hastily, blushing harder.

 

“Oh, okay,” Amethyst replied, confused, turning her attention back to her sisters.

 

_ “I love you,”  _ Peridot said under her breath, grumbling at the sound of Lapis giggling in the background. Her words didn’t go unnoticed by Garnet, who smiled at the Peridot’s silent confession.

 

“So, anyways, is anyone up for a sleepover in my room?” Amethyst asked, earning cheers from her fellow siblings. “Awesome. Paddy, you and Ocean can come too if you want.”

 

“Oh, that sounds thrilling,” said Padparadscha, after five seconds.

 

“You wanna come too, Steven?” Amethyst asked.

 

Steven turned to Garnet. “Can I?”

 

“Promise not to stay up too late?” the fusion asked.

 

“Yes,” the hybrid replied.

 

Garnet smiled and kissed him on the cheek. “Okay, then. Have fun,” she said, as she and Pearl went into the Temple.

 

“Okay. Thanks, Garnet,” said Steven

 

“Holly? What about you?” asked Amethyst.

 

“Sorry, but I’ll be staying here in case you turn back into whatever form that was earlier,” said Holly.

 

“Fair enough,” said the purple quartz.

 

“Me and Peridot want to join too,” said Lapis.

 

“What?” the green gem asked.

 

Lapis winked at her and she immediately blushed when she got the message.

 

“Oh, okay,” said Amethyst. “C’mon, guys. Let’s go.” Amethyst led the others to her room. Before following them, Lapis decided to give Peridot a little reassurance.

 

“Don’t worry, Dot. With me as your wingwoman, both figuratively and literally, you’ll be closer to Amethyst in no time,” Lapis whispered.

 

“Okay. I’ll hold you to that,” said Peridot as she and Lapis made their way to Amethyst’s room, with Pumpkin in tow. Unbeknownst to any of them, a certain ruby with a gem on her naval has been listening in on their conversation from her hiding place on the roof of the house.

 

“Oh ho ho, Jasper’s gonna wanna hear about this,” said Navy, giggling.

 

**. . .**

 

**(In the Prime Kindergarten)**

 

Waking up, Leggy found herself stranded in a dry, barren wasteland. After she finally managed to get back on her feet, she took a moment to examine her surroundings and try to figure out her location. Looking up, she was met with the sight of the moon and stars.

 

_ “Okay, so it’s nighttime, but where am I?” _ she asked herself. After further examination, her eyes landed on an Injector clinging to the edge of a cliff. Suddenly, it hit her.

 

“The mission! I must be on Earth; this must be the Prime Kindergarten. But where’s my--?” Leggy paused as another memory came up. As it all started to come back to her, tears filled her eyes and she started sniffling. “My crew. S-Something attacked our ship. I-I-I fell out of the hole caused by the explosion. T-They… They didn’t help me. T-They abandoned me.”

 

Leggy fell to her knees sobbing. “I trusted them! Why did they leave me to die!?! Am I really that worthless!?!”

 

A high-pitched growl got the red gem’s attention and she immediately stood back up.

 

“H-Hello?” Leggy called out, shaking nervously. She looked around for what could’ve made that noise. When she turned to a corner, her eyes widened. The moonlight had shown the shadow of a four-legged creature with two tusks, a single horn coming out of its head, and a large snout.

 

“I-Is someone there?” Leggy called out, terrified. In response, the creature snarled loudly, eliciting a terrified squeak from the ruby.

 

“P-Please don’t hurt me,” Leggy pleaded, shakily.

 

It was at that moment, the creature let out a bloodcurdling roar that could be heard throughout the whole Kindergarten. Its shadow moved forward, eventually disappearing out of sight, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps.

 

Knowing that the creature was coming, Leggy panicked and immediately jumped into a nearby exit hole, hugging her knees as she crouched into a fetal position just as the footsteps got closer.

 

A large paw with light gray skin and black claws stomped in front of the exit hole, indicating the creature’s presence. The creature snarled for a moment before it started sniffing the air. Cowering in the exit hole, Leggy closed her eyes and prayed that it didn’t find her.

 

After a few good minutes, the creature stopped and growled for a moment before taking off back in the direction it came.

 

“Someone please help me,” Leggy pleaded, tears pouring out of her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Believe it or not, you guys, writing that seen with Leggy hurt me just as much as it hurt you. Let’s all pray that she makes it out alright in the next chapter.
> 
> Also, guys, the sequel to The Ninja and the Kappa is still gonna come out. I just had to spend more time to get this chapter finished. Don’t worry, now that this chapter’s done, I can now focus on writing the sequel, The Ninja and the Archer. 
> 
> Lastly, guys, I plan to write a side-story called Rosie and Carnie. This story will be about Carnelian’s time with Rose during the war. I also plan to write another side-story called Project Paragon. This will detail the creation of Amethyst’s gem as described by Petalite.
> 
> Until then, stay tuned you guys.


	12. Meeting with Pink

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amethyst expresses guilt over her recent fight, and she and Steven see Pink Diamond again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Dang it, I did it again. I keep promising to upload faster and I still take long. Sorry, this took so long guys; explanation at the end. Enjoy the chapter.

“So what did you find out?” Jasper asked as she stood with Doc and Eyeball by her side. Navy had just got back to the Prime Kindergarten after spying on the Crystal Gems and the other rubies were still rummaging through the ship for any useful equipment.

 

"They received a telepathic message from a Petalite telling them to come to a Geo-Lab located somewhere around here," Navy explained.

 

"Hmm," Jasper hummed, contemplating this for a moment. "I only know of four Geo-Labs built in this Kindergarten. But, we're gonna need eyes on those traitors. So I'm gonna need four of you to split up and search those Geo-Labs; one of you will stay with me and help keep an eye on those gems. Is there anything else I should be aware of?"

 

"Well, just when I was approaching their base, I see a cargo ship land in front of it," Navy replied.

 

"Did you see who was manning it?" Jasper asked.

 

"Yes, there were a bunch of amethysts carrying a tied-up agate and a bunch of other jaspers," the ruby replied. "Oh, and they had a small carnelian with them."

 

Jasper's eyes widened. "Carnelian?!"

 

"Yeah, and from what she said, she seemed to know you personally," Navy answered.

 

"What did she say?" The large quartz asked. Without skipping a beat, Navy explained how Carnelian went on about what happened between her and Jasper in the Beta Kindergarten. The ruby even brought up how Carnelian added a huge emphasis on how Jasper nearly killed her and Rose saving her life. Before Navy could finish, she was interrupted by Jasper angrily shouting and punching a nearby boulder, reducing it to pebbles.

 

"LIES!!" she shouted.

 

"G-General?" said Eyeball, now scared.

 

"Rose didn't save her; she manipulated her! She came to Carnelian when she was at her lowest and toyed with her emotions until she had her under her complete control!" Jasper exclaimed as she turned to the three rubies, who were now cowering in fear right in front of her. "Sorry, soldier; I lost my head for a moment. Please continue."

 

Navy continued her story. She went on about how Rose healed Carnelian at her fountain and comforted her. The ruby then mentioned that Carnelian decided to stay with Rose until the war ended.

 

Jasper's expression saddened. "She was scared."

 

All eyes were on her as she went on. "Rose didn't manipulate her; she left because she was scared of me."

 

"Jasper? Carnelian said you were gonna shatter her, is it true?" Navy asked.

 

"Of course not. I would never shatter my own sister," the quartz replied.

 

"But she said you started the fight," said Navy.

 

"It was my fault. I spent so much time trying to keep my title that I never realized I was hurting my family," Jasper explained. "I didn't realize it until Carnelian confronted me on it. You have no idea how much it hurts when your own sister calls you a monster and a bully. It hurt so much that I just... lost it. And she paid the price for it."

 

"But what are you gonna do now that she's a crystal gem?" asked Eyeball.

 

Jasper's squeezed her eyes shut and contemplated this for a moment. On one hand, Carnelian was now in league with the enemy and she now shares the same fate as the rest of them; on the other hand, she thought for years that Carnelian was dead and now Jasper knows she's alive, she doesn't want to lose her again. At this point, Jasper was completely conflicted.

 

After a while, she sighed and answered, "I don't know."

 

**. . .**

 

**(The Temple; Amethyst's Room)**

 

"Hey, Peri? Are the photos done yet?" Amethyst asked from her position on Jay's lap. While some of the Famethyst sat waiting patiently for Peridot to finish, most of them were spending their time either wrestling, exploring Amethyst's room, or splashing around the lake by the waterfall.

 

“I'm almost done," said Peridot, frantically tapping on her tablet screen. "Just one more and... Done!"

 

"Awesome! Let us see," said Amethyst. Peridot held up her Gem-Pad, which displayed a photo of Amethyst and the Famethyst huddled together with toothy grins, with Amethyst in the middle. The framework of the photo was decorated with little golden stars and at the top were the words “FAMETHYST FOR LIFE” written in sparkling purple letters.

 

"Nice," said Carnelian. “Show the next one.”

 

"With pleasure," said Peridot as she displayed an image of her, Steven, Amethyst, Carnelian, and Padparadscha. Amethyst had her arms wrapped around Steven and Peridot, with all three gems smiling. Carnelian stood next to Peridot holding up a peace sign and winking as she flashed a toothy grin. The blue diamonds on her uniform had been replaced by blue stars. Padparadscha had her hands on her cheeks and sported a gasping smile. The photo's framework was decorated with multi-colored stars, pink hearts, and yellow smiley faces. At the top of it were the words "SHORTY SQUAD" in sparkling golden letters.

 

“Aaaww, Carnie. You guys look so cute in this photo,” Skinny cooed.

 

“Don’t call me that!” Carnelian snapped, cheeks turning a darker shade of red.

 

“And I am not cute!” Peridot exclaimed, sporting a dark green blush.

 

“C’mon, guys. I’ve learned to get used to it and so should you,” said Amethyst. “Plus, your cuteness is what I like about you, Peridot.”

 

Peridot’s blushed even harder after hearing this. “Oh. W-Well… um… thank you, Amethyst.”

 

“If Steven was awake right now, he would agree with me,” she said. “Speaking of Steven, I see a certain someone seems to be getting attached to him.” As she said this, she gestured toward Chip, who was currently letting Steven, clad in his banana pajamas, sleep on her lap. “Don’t you think that’s a little too clingy, Chip?”

 

“The kid’s adorable, sue me,” said Chip, blushing.

 

“Chip always did have a soft spot for children,” Skinny teased.

 

“No, I don’t,” she retorted.

 

“Chip, don’t you remember what happened eleven years ago?” asked Carnelian. “I told you J-10 was about to give birth and it was gonna be a girl; you nearly ran me over trying to get into the habitat.”

 

“And it was worth it; K-12 was a little ball of sunshine,” she replied. Then she blushed, knowing that she proved their point.

 

“Exactly,” said Skinny.

 

“Okay fine, I see your point,” said Chip, shifting Steven’s head into a more comfortable position. “But is it a crime to bond with our adoptive brother?”

 

“It’s fine. Just don’t forget he was my brother first,” said Amethyst.

 

“No promises,” said Chip, petting Steven on the head.

 

“Wait a minute. Greg never mentioned any kids at the zoo,” said Amethyst.

 

“That’s because they don’t get incorporated into the habitat until they reach the age of eleven,” Bee explained. “Until then, they’re kept in the nursery.”

 

“Well then, how do they find their parents when they’re eleven?” Amethyst asked.

 

“We take them on frequent trips to and from the habitat,” Jay answered.

 

“Wow,” said Lapis.

 

“Hey, where’s Padparadscha?” Peridot asked.

 

“Oh, she’s right over there,” said Amethyst, pointing. Padparadscha was currently fast asleep on top of a sleeping Ocean Jasper, with the little sapphire using the canine gem’s mane as a blanket. “Isn't she just the cutest?”

 

“I'll say,” said Carnelian.

 

Peridot shot a jealous glare at the sapphire.

 

“Amethyst didn't mean it romantically; calm down,” Lapis whispered to the green gem, who blushed in embarrassment.

 

“So, Amy? Ocean Jasper? What's her story, because she looks… Unique?” Skinny asked.

 

"She got infected by the corruption," she replied.

 

"What's corruption?" Carnelian asked.

 

"Damage from the diamonds," Amethyst answered. This new revelation shocked the Famethyst.

 

"The diamonds did this?" Skinny blinked. She had only heard about the cruelty of the diamonds from afar - mostly from rumors and rebels, but she had never really paid attention to it.

 

"Their last attack on Earth devastated the entire planet. Any gems that survived, were damaged to the point where their mind is broken and their body is distorted into a more... monstrous form," the small gem explained.

 

"Well, don't you guys have a cure for it?" asked Sharky.

 

"Yes. We just recently came up with cure," said Peridot.

 

"Why didn't you use it on Ocean?" Carnelian asked.

 

"Well, thanks to your sister, Jasper, we--”

 

"THAT DEMONIC BEAST IS NOT MY SISTER!" Carnelian snapped. Amethyst placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and the red gem sighed. “I’m sorry, Peridot. I just hate being compared to Jasper.”

 

“Don't worry about it. I shouldn't have brought it up,” said Peridot. “Anyways, thanks to Jasper, Ocean's corruption may be potentially permanent.”

 

“Wow! Jasper screwed someone over. Why am I not surprised?” Carnelian said, sarcastically. “So, how’d she ruin Ocean’s life?”

 

Peridot explained to them what happened in the Beta Kindergarten. How Jasper had kidnapped and imprisoned Ocean, tortured her physically and verbally, and forced her to fight her battles.

 

“And Steven and Amethyst’s fusion easily overpowered her. Unfortunately, the brute pulled a cowardly move and forced Ocean into an unstable fusion,” said Peridot.

 

“Wait? How does fusion play a part in this?” asked Chip.

 

“I think I can explain that,” said Lapis.

 

“Lapis? Are you sure; I know that’s a complicated subject for you?” Peridot asked.

 

“I’ll be fine,” she took a deep breath and explained.

 

She told them what happened between her and Jasper. She told them about how she was forced into becoming Malachite. How she had trapped Malachite under the ocean and how she and Jasper fought for control of the fusion for several months.

 

“Due to the negative emotions that held her together, Malachite was unstable. Being stuck together for several months was complete torture for both of us. But after what Amethyst told us when she looked into Ocean’s memories, I’d say Jasper got the short end of the stick,” Lapis explained.

 

“You can look into people’s minds too?” Jay asked.

 

“Apparently,” Amethyst answered. “But what I saw, was completely horrific.”

 

“What was it, and how did Jasper get the short end of the stick?” Skinny asked.

 

“Apparently, after we unfused them, remnants of Malachite somehow remained in Jasper’s mind,” Amethyst explained. “When Jasper fused with Ocean Jasper, the remnants took on the form of Malachite and tortured Ocean with images of the destruction she caused and Lapis and Jasper’s torture. It was so horrific, that it caused them to unfuse. And then--”

 

Amethyst stopped herself before going any further.

 

“Then what?” Carnelian said.

 

“Jasper got corrupted,” she finished.

 

This new revelation shocked everyone. They were all silent for a moment before Carnelian spoke up. “Good. She got what she deserved.”

 

“Yeah, and if I had known what she did to you, she would’ve stayed that way,” said Amethyst.

 

“Wait? You healed her?” Carnelian asked.

 

“I wanted to be the bigger gem and try to forgive her for what she did,” Amethyst explained.

 

“Look, I can respect that. But with Jasper, there’s no such thing as being the bigger gem,” Carnelian said.

 

“I know,” Amethyst said. Her expression then changed to anger. “And if I had known what she did to you, I wouldn’t have spared her; I would’ve made her suffering last longer.”

 

“Woah! What are you talking about? What happened?” Skinny asked.

 

“Amethyst and Jasper fought on an old gem battlefield, and Amethyst showed some very interesting abilities,” Peridot explained. “Here. I have the whole fight recorded on my tablet.”

 

Peridot held up the Gem-Pad as it displayed the fight between Amethyst and Jasper. The Famethyst were astonished as they watched the fight break out. They stood with bated breaths as they watched Amethyst toss Jasper around like a ragdoll. After a few seconds, the Famethyst started clapping and cheering.

 

“Woooooh! Alright, M; you won!” said Jay, clapping.

 

“You beat the Ultimate Quartz! That’s a huge achievement!” exclaimed Gina.

 

“HA! Jasper got wrecked! You totally owned her!” said Carnelian, chuckling.

 

“Not so ultimate anymore,” said Skinny, mockingly. It was then that Carnelian shapeshifted into Jasper.

 

“Duuurrrr… Me big dumb moron! Duuuuurrr… Me have big head with nothing in it… Duuurr!” she said in a false Jasper impression, eliciting laughs from the other quartzes. “Duuurr… Me thinks me better than everyone but me lost fight to gem smaller than I… Doooyy!”

 

Peridot doubled over laughing and Lapis tried her hardest to suppress her laughter.

 

“Doooyy… Me need Malachite; me is too weak! Duuuurrr… Oh, Lapis! Please fuse with me; me wants you to hurt me some more… Dooooyy!” said Carnelian, mockingly.

 

It was at this point Lapis could no longer hold it all in.

 

“PFFFTT! AHHAHAHA *snort* AHHAHAHAHA *snort* AHHAHAHAHA!” Lapis fell to the floor laughing. “It’s funny because if you read between the lines, that’s basically what she said.” The whole room erupted with laughter at the jabs they were taking at Jasper.

 

It was this very moment, Amethyst snapped. “THERE WAS NOTHING GOOD ABOUT THAT FIGHT!!”

 

The quartz’s outburst brought silence throughout the whole entire room. Everyone turned their attention to the visibly upset gem.

 

“Woah! Where’s all this coming from, M?” Jay asked.

 

Amethyst sighed. “She hurt Steven. He was in so much pain. When I saw what she did, all I could feel was anger.”

 

“What happened then?” Carnelian asked.

 

Amethyst hesitated before she continued. “During our fight, I let my anger consume me and I let it take over. When Jasper was down, I--” Amethyst silenced herself.

 

“It’s okay, sis. You can tell us,” said Carnelian.

 

Amethyst hesitated for a moment and then she finished. “I tried to kill her.”

 

“Well, that’s not so bad. She deserves--”

 

“I know she deserves it, but I just couldn’t. I promised myself that I would never take a life,” said Amethyst. “Even though every part of me wanted to do it.”

 

“If you wanted to, why didn’t you do it?” Skinny asked.

 

“Because if I did, Steven would see me as an even bigger monster than Jasper,” Amethyst replied, as a few tears left her eyes. Silence filled the room as everyone tried to process what the smaller quartz had said. Peridot, on the other hand, just felt guilty. If she had known how Amethyst felt about the fight, she wouldn’t have shown the video.

 

 _“How could I have been so stupid?! Now, I made her cry!”_ Peridot thought. The green gem sighed before turning off the Gem-Pad. “I’m sorry, Amethyst. I should’ve asked you how you felt about this whole thing.”

 

“It’s okay, Peridot. I should’ve been more open at the start,” she said as more tears filled her eyes. Suddenly, Carnelian came up to her and brushed away her tears before cupping her cheeks and looking her in the eyes.

 

“Listen, Amethyst. Don’t you ever compare yourself to Jasper; you’re better than that,” said Carnelian. “You did what neither of us could’ve ever done: you taught Jasper a lesson.”

 

“But I almost killed her,” Amethyst said.

 

“But you didn’t. And even if did, you’d only be doing it to protect Steven,” said the red gem. “He’ll never see you as a monster; you’re his family. Steven loves you, and so do we.”

 

Amethyst hugged the red gem. “Thanks, Carnie.”

 

Carnelian hugged her back. “Anytime, sis.” The two were silent as they held the embrace. They stayed like this for a few seconds, before Amethyst pulled back yawning.

 

“Well, I think I’ve had enough action for one day. I think I’m gonna head to bed,” she said. “If you guys wanna join, I placed a bunch of mattresses together so we would all be sharing a bed.”

 

“Of course, sis. We’d love to join in,” said Bee.

 

“Sounds good to me,” said Chip, gently picking up Steven as she and the other quartzes followed their younger sister. After listening to their whole conversation, an idea popped in Lapis’ head. She walked over to Peridot and whispered something in her ear, eliciting a blush from the green gem.

 

“Are you sure about this, Lapis?” she asked.

 

“Trust me, it’s the best way to get closer to her,” said the blue gem.

 

“Okay, if you say so,” said Peridot. “Hey, Amethyst?”

 

“Yeah?” she asked.

 

Peridot blushed even more before asking, “Can I share a mattress with you?”

 

A purple blush highlighted the quartz’s cheeks before she replied. “Sure. Why not?”

 

As Peridot followed Amethyst to another part of the room, she looked back to see Lapis smiling and giving her a wink while stroking a sleeping Pumpkin.

 

That night, all the quartzes were huddled up in a huge cuddle pile. Chip had her arms wrapped around Steven, letting the child bury his face in her soft hair as he rests his head on her shoulder. Meanwhile, Jay slept next to Amethyst. The latter was snoring peacefully next to a blushing Peridot, who had her arms wrapped the purple gem’s waist as she fell asleep taking in the quartz’s warmth. Soon, the sound of snoring filled the room as they slept through the night.

 

**. . .**

 

When Steven opened his eyes, he once again found himself in the Prime Kindergarten. The only difference is that this time, he was positioned on top of a cliffside.

 

“Hey, Steven!” The hybrid turned around to be greeted by Amethyst.

 

“Amethyst? What’s going on; we’re back here again?” he asked.

 

“Beats me,” she answered.

 

“Steven? Amethyst?” The two turned around to be greeted by the towering figure of Pink Diamond. The larger gem smiled at them before shapeshifting down to Garnet’s height and pulling them into a bone-crushing hug.

 

“I’m so glad you two came back,” said Pink, cheerfully.

 

“If this goes on any longer, I’m gonna poof!” Amethyst exclaimed, straining against the diamond’s grip.

 

“Pink... You’re crushing my lungs!” Steven exclaimed, gasping for air as his face turned pink. Pink immediately released them from the hug.

 

“Sorry, I’m just so happy to see you again,” said Pink, shapeshifting back to her large height.

 

“Yeah, I think we got that,” said Amethyst, still sore from the hug.

 

“Why did you bring us back here?” Steven asked.

 

“Oh, there’s something I wanted to show you both,” she said, picking them up and carrying them to another part of the Kindergarten. After a few minutes, they arrived at a very familiar area.

 

“Well, what do you think?” Pink asked. She had brought them to the center of the Kindergarten, highlighted by its vast grasslands, pink rose bushes, fields lined with pink hibiscus flowers, large trees, and a huge lake.

 

“It’s the center of the Kindergarten,” said Amethyst.

 

“Isn't it beautiful?” the diamond asked.

 

“It is, but how did you manage this?” Amethyst asked.

 

“It was all Rose’s idea. I simply made sure the Injectors didn't inject gems in this part of the Kindergarten,” Pink explained.

 

“Were you and Rose close?” the purple gem asked.

 

“Oh, yes. She was the only person who I could call a friend,” said the diamond, before looking towards the oasis. “Sometimes when I look at all of this, I’m reminded of all the things we’ve accomplished together.”

 

“This place is amazing,” Steven said, smiling. The two small gems and the diamond gazed down at the beautiful oasis, completely awestruck that something so majestic could be found in a barren wasteland. While they were enjoying the view, Pink Diamond decided to bring up another topic.

 

“Y’know, Steven. I still remember the day Rose told me she was gonna have a child,” she said.

 

“You and Mom could communicate with each other?” he asked.

 

“Oh, yes. We communicated using the same method I use to communicate with the two of you,” Pink explained. “I can see why Rose wanted to have you; you’re a very special child with endless potential. And you’re very cute.” As she says this, she starts tickling him with her finger, eliciting giggles from the small hybrid.

 

“Ahhahahahaha! Pink! Cut out!” Steven said, laughing. Lucky for him, Pink relents and lets the young hybrid breath.

 

After taking a moment to regain his composure, Steven asked another question. “Pink? I’ve been getting new abilities lately and I was wondering if it had something to do with you touching my gem?”

 

“Why, yes of course. You see, when I touched your gem, I increased your gem’s connection to the mind and body, allowing your gem to act in-kind to both your thoughts and your movements,” she explained.

 

“That sounds awesome,” said Steven.

 

“What about me; how am I getting new powers?” asked Amethyst.

 

“Don’t worry, my little Amethyst,” she said, gently petting her on the head. “I left a full explanation for you at the Geo-Lab.”

 

“What kind of gems were created in that Geo-Lab?” Amethyst asked.

 

“Just you,” Pink answered.

 

“Why just me?” the purple gem inquired.

 

“You’ll find out when you get there tomorrow,” the matriarch replied. “Just know that we have more in common than you think.”

 

While Amethyst contemplated, Pink picked her up and placed her on her lap. Before Amethyst could ask, Pink lets her lay down on her stomach as she gently strokes her hair with her finger.

 

“Pink? What are you doing?” Amethyst asked.

 

“You’ve had a very stressful day; so I was hoping this would help. Is this good enough?” Pink asked.

 

Amethyst smiled and hummed in contempt as she was secretly enjoying it. “Yeah. This actually feels nice.”

 

“I’m glad you think so,” Pink said, gently stroking the quartz’s mane. “Y’know? I’ve been looking through your memories and I’ve noticed that a certain green gem seems to fancy you.”

 

“Peridot likes me?” Amethyst asked, surprised.

 

“From what I’ve seen, I’d say yes,” said Pink.

 

“Are you sure?” Amethyst asked.

 

“Well, she blushes every time she lays eyes on you, she enters a love trance and spaces out every time you hold her hand or hug her, and I overheard her whisper the words “I love you” when your back was turned,” she explained. At the end of Pink’s explanation, Amethyst’s cheeks were highlighted by a dark purple blush. “The real question is: Do you feel the same way?”

 

Amethyst blushed even harder, but then she said, “Yes. I’ve had feelings for Peridot for a long time. I just assumed she wouldn’t be interested.”

 

“Oh, don’t be silly, dear,” said Pink. “You’re sweet, lovable, and beautiful; anyone would’ve been lucky to have you.

 

“I guess,” Amethyst said, hesitantly.

 

“I’m serious, Amethyst. You need to stop selling yourself short,” said Pink. “You’re a wonderful gem and if Peridot thinks so; then you shouldn’t think any different. I want you to promise you’ll stop thinking negatively of yourself.”

 

Amethyst smiled. “Okay, I promise.”

 

“Good,” Pink said, smiling. “I think it’s time for you two to go back; you have a big day tomorrow.”

 

“We will, and thanks for the talk, Pink,” said Amethyst.

 

“Actually, Amethyst. I know we just met, but could you consider calling me Mom?” Pink asked.

 

Amethyst contemplated this for a moment. _“Well, she did make me, so I guess that would make sense.”_

 

“Okay, sure… Mom,” she replied.

 

Pink smiled. “Much appreciated.”

 

And in a brilliant flash, everything went white.

 

**. . .**

 

Back in reality, a sleeping Amethyst wrapped her arms around Peridot, pulled the snoring green gem closer to her, and lightly nuzzled her before resting peacefully into the night. As the quartz slept, her gem shined a bright pink glow and from it, large rays of pink light began pouring out of Amethyst’s gem bending and growing into the shape of a large humanoid form. After a few seconds, the light fades away, and in its place, stood Pink Diamond in an astral-like, light-constructed form.

 

Pink Diamond stared down at the smaller quartz in front of her before smiling and planting a gentle kiss on Amethyst’s cheek, putting a smile the quartz’s face.

 

“Goodnight, my shining gem. I love you,” she said before her form fades away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Sorry, guys. I know this took long, but the reason is that I’ve been taking the time to work on other stories that I plan on uploading, some current; some new, and I’ve been trying to work on some videos for my YouTube channel. But don’t worry, I’ll still try to find time to work on this story. Also, I’m nearly done with the sequel to my OK K.O. fanfic “The Ninja and the Kappa” called “The Ninja and the Archer.” Until then, see you guys later.
> 
> Credit to:
> 
> UsernamesAreForWeaklings: co-author and editor.


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